Carrie Jones-Barber, CEO of Dawn Foods, (right) gives a high-five to Jeff Hill, vice president of operations for Dawn Foods, (left) during a groundbreaking ceremony for Dawn Foods' new distribution center in Merrillville, Ind. Friday March 15, 2013. The facility, located at the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads development, is anticipated to be completed in September. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Dawn Foods CEO Carrie Jones-Barber speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for Dawn Foods' new distribution center in Merrillville, Ind. Friday March 15, 2013. The facility, located at the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads development, is anticipated to be completed in September. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Dawn Foods CEO Carrie Jones-Barber (center) adjusts her construction hat during a groundbreaking ceremony for Dawn Foods' new distribution center in Merrillville, Ind. Friday March 15, 2013. The facility, located at the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads development, is anticipated to be completed in September. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
Merrillville council president Shawn Pettit speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for Dawn Foods' new distribution center in Merrillville, Ind. Friday March 15, 2013. The facility, located at the AmeriPlex at the Crossroads development, is anticipated to be completed in September. | Stephanie Dowell~Sun-Times Media
An artist rendering shows plans for the new Dawn Foods distribution center in Merrillville, Ind. Friday March 15, 2013. | provided~Sun-Times Media
MERRILLVILLE — Dawn Food Products Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for its new 116,000-square-foot distribution center, to be located on 13 acres in the Ameriplex at the Crossroads development. Steve Tippmann, executive vice president of Tippmann Group, which designed and is building the $13.5 …