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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.
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