Posted October 1, 2007

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee -- FedEx Ground, the small-package ground delivery unit of FedEx Corp., is building a new $15 million facility in Alton Park. The 163,000 square-foot facility, which will be located on the former site of the Wheland Foundry, will add more than 80 jobs over the next three years, bringing the total FedEx workforce in Chattanooga to some 325 employees and independent contractors.

The new facility, representing a $15 million capital investment, is part of the company’s
nationwide network expansion plan. The investment calls for the addition of nine new hubs, as
well as the relocation or expansions of more than 300 pickup and delivery terminals by 2011.

Bob Holcombe, vice president of FedEx Ground’s southern division attributed the decision
to locate in Chattanooga to a “combination of things. Certainly the site was important and the tax incentives were important, but the people of Chattanooga were an even more important part.”

FedEx also is eligible to receive a $1,500 per employee federal tax credit for hiring from
within the Renewal Community, according to Maria Noel of the city's Renewal Community
incentive program.

The 80 new jobs include management positions as well as full- and part-time package
handler positions that will pay between $8 and $10 per hour.

The facility, which will sit near the corner of Alton Park Boulevard and Long Street, is
expected to be complete in the fall of 2008.

The site was a former landfill for the Wheland Foundry. After Wheland closed, a developer
from Birmingham, AL, proposed building a landfill on the site. That proposal met with opposition
from residents and local officials, and the developer abandoned the plan last year.

“The Chamber was among the most vigorous and vocal opponents of locating a landfill on
this site,” said Trevor Hamilton, Chamber vice president of economic development. “Thanks to
our efforts and those of our elected officials and concerned citizens, this site will be redeveloped by a leading U.S. company and will contribute to the expansion of jobs in our community.”

Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said FedEx will be a boon to an area in transition
and will bolster its resurgence. The company, he said, is building in a part of the state where good things are happening.