LATHROP – Moving his company to Lathrop was almost a no-brainer for Joe Antonini.

It had the perfect building. It was business-friendly. And it had access to both of California’s major north-south routes and the crossover to the San Francisco Bay Area.

So after 87 years of headquartering the family-owned trucking operation in Stockton, Antonini pulled up the stakes and relocated to a sprawling facility inside of one of the Lathrop’s busiest business parks – designed specifically for truck traffic.

“The location of the facility is close to the interchanges and the rail ramps and we’ve been seeing a lot more of our work coming from over in the Bay Area,” Antonini said. “It was a great experience working with the City of Lathrop to make this possible. Everybody was welcoming helped us every step of the way.

“We’re looking forward to being a part of this community.”

The transfer will bring 160 jobs to the community, and serves as one of the final pieces to the complete build-out of the industrial park that has helped interject a new source of revenue into the community’s coffers.

And it also serves as a weather vane for what many believe is a changing economic climate.

In the eyes of Lathrop City Councilman Steve Dresser, Antonini’s commitment to relocate its headquarters shows that things are changing and that the community is able to sell the amenities that it possesses to major employers.

It also, Dresser said, opens up other portions of the community for development.

“This whole park has very few spots left before it is completely built-out, and that’s going to open up other portions of the community for development. Those are the behind-the-scenes things that you want to see,” Dresser said. “This shows that things are turning around and people and businesses are willing to come in. This creates opportunities for jobs, and that’s what we want to see.”

On Wednesday afternoon employees from the company – which has terminals in Yuba City, Elk Grove, Modesto and Huron – mingled with representatives from the City of Lathrop and other members of the local business community.

The ribbon cutting, which came just as workers were beginning to settle into their new digs, was a joint effort between the Lathrop District Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce – a sign, said chamber CEO Mary Kennedy-Bracken, that the two communities can work together towards common goals.

“I think that this shows that businesses see the opportunity in Lathrop and see the future of growth and development,” Kennedy-Bracken said. “With the Mayor that we have now, Lathrop is on the rise – if you build it, people will come and I think that’s exactly what is happening.”