Construction of a massive new FedEx Ground distribution center in the Grimes Industrial Park in Pittston Township is nearly complete and it should be finished in August 2016, according to a company spokesman.
The facility will be more than 300,000 square feet when it is complete and will replace the existing 116,977-square-foot facility it leases from Mericle Real Estate Services on Armstrong Road in CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park East in Jenkins Township, according to FedEx Ground spokesman David Westrick.
More than 140 full-time and part-time employees who work for FedEx Ground in CenterPoint will move to the new distribution center that is three times the size of its current facility and has a parking lot for about 600 cars. Replacing the existing FedEx Ground facility will enable the company to continue to meet and exceed customer demands in the area, Westrick said.
"Exact staffing needs have yet to be determined, but the facility will employ a mix of full- and part-time employees,” said Westrick. “We will add to the workforce as necessary to support increased demand for service in the area.” FedEx has leased a facility from Mericle in CenterPoint since 2007. Westrick said the new FedEx site off Freeport Road was chosen because of its ease of access to major highways, proximity to customers' distribution centers and a “strong local community workforce for recruiting employees.”
The new facility also is part of a nationwide network expansion to boost daily package volume capacity and further enhance the speed and service capabilities of the FedEx Ground network, he said. Since 2005, the company has opened 11 new hubs featuring advanced material-handling systems and expanded or relocated more than 500 local facilities.
The network enhancements have resulted in accelerating ground service delivery by one day or more in more than two-thirds of the United States, Westrick said. With the changes, FedEx Ground is faster to more overall locations, including more residential locations, he said.
Michelle Mikitish, executive vice president of the Greater Pittston Chamber, said the FedEx project means “more employees, more jobs and more exposure.” “For a large national company to choose to be in Northeastern Pennsylvania, specifically the Pittston area, how exciting is that,” she said. The new FedEx Ground facility in Pittston Township will be able to move 15,000 packages an hour and will have a positive economic impact in the area. “More employees means more business at lunchtime and more people running to local shops,” she said. “It just helps everybody.”
Officials from the Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce credit a nearly completed $43 million road improvement project in the area as a key factor that led FedEx Ground to choose to build the massive distribution center in the Grimes Industrial Park.
Mikitish also said the area's proximity to highways and major cities was another factor. More than 51 million live within 200 miles of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As the shift to online and mobile shopping has continued to grow, a number of other top e-commerce companies also have opened fulfillment or distribution centers in the area because of its easy access to major highways. “It's a great location for them geographically,” Mikitish said. “They are close to high population areas.”
To explore the services Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce has to offer, pittstonchamber.info
