Big changes are coming to a longtime Minot company in January. Food Services of America will no longer operate a warehouse in Minot, putting numerous employees out of work.

According to Dan Blank, president of the Dakota Group of FSA in Fargo, customers’ orders will be picked at the Fargo warehouse and trucked to Minot where local drivers will make the final deliveries.

FSA in Minot serves customers throughout the northwestern part of the state, including hospitals, other healthcare facilities, schools and restaurants. An upside to the story is that those customers will have many, many more products to choose from coming out of the Fargo warehouse.

“We are fully committed to that market,” Blank said of emphasizing that the change relates only to the closing of the Minot warehouse.

FSA has about 25 warehouse workers in Minot now, with about a half-dozen of them accepting job offers to transfer to Fargo, Blank said. They rest of the warehouse employees have turned down similar offers for various reasons specific to their families, he said.

While some jobs will be lost in Minot, others will be added, specifically truck drivers.

“That is a growing market for us,” Blank said. He said FSA is hiring now and want to add five to six new drivers here, and will help applicants obtain Class A licenses, which are needed.

FSA has been in its current location in Minot for about 30 years. The warehouse, which needs significant upgrading, will be sold. However, Blank said FSA will need to find a new facility in Minot with a dock to complete the transition.