FedEx set to build centre in California
FedEx plans to build a $26m distribution centre in Otay Mesa, San Diego, which will create jobs for at least 140 Californian workers.
FedEx plans to build a $26m distribution centre in Otay Mesa, San Diego, which will create jobs for at least 140 Californian workers.
In addition, company executives estimate that the building – at 10132 Airway Blvd. – will temporarily create work for 250 construction workers before it opens towards the end of 2009.
Cindy Gompper-Graves, chief executive of the South County Economic Development Corp, said the facility was a bright sign for the South Bay, which has some of the county’s highest unemployment rates.
“If you have a Fortune 500 company choosing to invest $26m in South County, it shows that companies are still growing and that even in bad economic times, there are companies that build so they can prepare for better times,” said Gompper-Graves, whose agency played an instrumental role in helping FedEx find a location.
FedEx’s ground division operates two distribution centres in the county and employs about 350 full-and part-time workers, including truck drivers and independent contractors.
The company decided that it needed to open a new distribution centre to handle an increase in business.
“There’s a definite trend in growth in the San Diego area, and we’re responding to that,” said FedEx spokesperson David Westrick. “We all know that the economy’s changing in lots of ways. But we needed to increase our capacity to serve San Diego.”
In January, DHL Express, which had been one of FedEx’s biggest competitors, ended its domestic air and ground services in the US, while continuing to offer international delivery. DHL’s move left the domestic market dominated by three players: FedEx, UPS and USPS.
Westrick said DHL’s cutbacks were responsible for “only a small part” of FedEx’s increased business in San Diego.
“We’ve been growing solidly for years, so DHL did not have a direct impact” on the decision to build a new centre, he said.
In its initial phase, the distribution centre will be about 130,000 square feet, with a work force of between 140 and 160 employees, including package handlers, clerks, technicians, service managers and drivers.
FedEx has contingency plans that could expand the facility to a total of 165,000 square feet, with as many as 230 workers.
“We have no projections of when (the) centre might be built out,” Westrick said. “We build all our facilities so they can be easily expanded, but it’s really tough to say when that might happen.”
