SYSCO Corporation held a ribbon cutting Tuesday at its recently-completed foodservice distribution facility in Knoxville. The new company is Sysco Foodservices of Knoxville, LLC.

Service will begin at the new 353,000-square-foot location on Tennessee Ave. on May 12.

Tommy Dail, president and CEO of Sysco Foodservices of Knoxville, said, "This is a historic day for the city of Knoxville because it takes a piece of real estate that had been dormant and with the city's vision, foresight, investment and willingness to take a risk, it will soon be a productive contributor to our community."

The facility includes what the company refers to as 'next generation' amenities, such as robotic storage and retrieval systems, energy efficient lighting systems, and a culinary training and evaluation center.

Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said, "Low and behold they build a bigger facility than they tell us they are going to, and hire more people than they promise they will, and build a building that is very environmentally friendly and looks terrific in the meantime. It doesn't always work out that way, but when it does, it's great."