Distribution Center

Norfolk Southern celebrated its new, $97 million rail-truck project Tuesday with a dedication ceremony and a new name for the facility. Norfolk Southern officials cut the ribbon on the new Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility at 612 Antrim Commons Drive in Greencastle during the ceremony. “This terminal really is one of the landmark economic development projects that has taken place in Franklin County in my (27-year) tenure,” said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp.

Project Olympus appears to be a fitting code name for the $150 million investment that Macy's announced last week it will make in Berkeley County. Describing the project last week as a "game changer," Stephen Christian, executive director of the Berkeley County Development Authority, said the project could singlehandedly pull Berkeley County out of recession. "It's not just the 1,200 new jobs. Everything from local retail sales, all the way up to the housing market should see the benefit of this project," Christian said in formally announcing that Macy's search for land to build a 1.3-million-square-foot distribution center had ended near Martinsburg.

The Macy's distribution center planned near Martinsburg, W.Va., will have an impact well beyond state lines, a Franklin County, Pa., economic development leader said last week. "This is good for our valley, and we're developing a regional economy," said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp. "We all benefit from a project like this. " Although the center could strain other employers looking for warehouse workers, it'll create a need for things such as construction, janitorial services and office supplies from across the region, Ross said.

A former Hagerstown man is returning to his roots, and he's bringing his growing business with him. Bustin Industries, a New York-based longboard skateboard company, recently announced plans to expand and locate its warehousing and distribution center in downtown Hagerstown, according to company founder Ryan Daughtridge. Daughtridge said in a news release last week that the company has signed a lease-to-purchase agreement on the former Maidstone Furniture building at 117 Summit Ave. and will be moving its distribution operations there this month.

The Washington County Commissioners Tuesday attended a groundbreaking ceremony for a business scheduled to open in late December. Construction on the 12,500-square-foot Covenco distribution center began about one month ago, said Richard McCleary, owner of McCleary and Earley of Williamsport, the contractor building the center. Covenco is a Middletown, Pa.-based vending and cafeteria company. The facility will be at Huyett's Business Park off Md. 63 west of Hagerstown. The business will create about 20 jobs, paying in the $10 to $12 an hour range, said Andy Calhoun, vice president of purchasing for Covenco.

Macy's Inc. stands to receive a tax break worth between $10 million and $11 million if the department store giant follows through with its plan to build a $150 million distribution center in Berkeley County, officials said Thursday. The Berkeley County Commission Thursday approved an agreement that delays Macy's obligation to pay taxes in full until after a Payment In Lieu of Taxes agreement - worth $11.25 million to the county - expires in 2028. Macy's said it needs the distribution center to meet growing Internet sales in the eastern United States.

After sharing details of their counties' economic successes Wednesday, officials from Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia listened to a description of "Project Olympus. " That was the code name for the $150 million, 1.3-million-square-foot Macy's distribution center that will be built in Cumbo Yard Industrial Park off W.Va. 9 in Berkeley County, W.Va. The center, which will serve Macys.com and Bloomingdales.com, is expected to bring about 1,200 full-time jobs and another 700 jobs during peak periods.

Shenandoah's Pride Dairy will close its Winchester, Va., distribution center at the end of the month, relocating much of its work to its Hagerstown operation, a company official said. Approximately 13 of the 22 employees at the Winchester center are expected to relocate to the Hagerstown operation on Oakmont Drive, Branch Operations Manager Greg Harper said. Company officials couldn't justify the cost of upgrading the Winchester center when its sales territory could be covered by other regional centers, such as those in Hagerstown and Mount Crawford, Va., Harper said.

One of the largest beauty retailers in the United States unveiled its new 373,000-square-foot Chambersburg distribution center at a grand opening ceremony on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty began hiring employees in late December for the Chambersburg distribution center, which is near Interstate 81 at 95 Kriner Road. Jim Scarfone, senior vice president of human resources for Ulta Beauty, said the company has hired nearly 190 local workers with another 200 to be hired in the next two to three years.

The new warehouse distribution center that Kellogg Co. is opening near Hagerstown this summer will employ about 50 people, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. The center will be used by Kellogg's snacks division, spokeswoman Thuy-An Wilkins said from the company's Battle Creek, Mich., headquarters. It is to open in July, she said. It isn't yet clear, however, how many of the 50 jobs will be offered to area residents. Wilkins said Kellogg Snacks is closing two distribution centers in the region.

Norfolk Southern celebrated its new, $97 million rail-truck project Tuesday with a dedication ceremony and a new name for the facility. Norfolk Southern officials cut the ribbon on the new Franklin County Regional Intermodal Facility at 612 Antrim Commons Drive in Greencastle during the ceremony. “This terminal really is one of the landmark economic development projects that has taken place in Franklin County in my (27-year) tenure,” said L. Michael Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp.

The recent sight of heavy construction machinery on farmland once considered for a truck distribution center north of Hagerstown is not a sign that a project is in the works, according to Brad Fulton, president of 2003 Mason Dixon LLC, which purchased the 172-acre farm in 2003. Over the past three weeks, an old farmhouse and another building were demolished on the land off Mason Dixon Road, and at least one resident contacted The Herald-Mail to say he feared it was a sign that a truck distribution center project was moving ahead.

From a hill, it's like a child's sandbox dream to see the giant earth movers, smaller bulldozers and dump trucks moving earth and rock on the field next to the FedEx Ground package distribution center near Hagerstown. But to the several dozen heavy equipment operators, millwrights, electricians, iron workers, plumbers, and data and security installation workers who have started building FedEx's big expansion, the activity is a dream come true, best summed up in a few words. “It's definitely job security,” said Don Fleagle, 58, who is operating one of the two mammoth pans - huge rubber-tired machines that Chambersburg, Pa.-based contractor David H. Martin Excavating Inc. is using to scrape, fill and flatten fields as part of the FedEx project.

Chances are that those presents under your Christmas tree traveled a long way to get there. And chances are, whether they came from a local retailer or were bought online, they passed through a “hub” and a distribution center at a shipping company such as FedEx or UPS or a sorting center at a local post office. The warehouses where these shippers operate tend to be busy places this time of the year with thousands of packages swiftly passing through the buildings en route to their destinations.

Two large transportation companies are expanding their Washington County operations, giving the local economy new signs of strength after years of recession. FedEx Ground is going to begin building a major addition to its package distribution center near Hagerstown soon as 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,” the company said in a statement Friday. With business increasing, the company is going to expand its current 380,000-square-foot center off Newgate Boulevard in the Hopewell area near Valley Mall to a total of 590,000 square feet, corporate spokeswoman Erin Truxal said.

A former Hagerstown man is returning to his roots, and he's bringing his growing business with him. Bustin Industries, a New York-based longboard skateboard company, recently announced plans to expand and locate its warehousing and distribution center in downtown Hagerstown, according to company founder Ryan Daughtridge. Daughtridge said in a news release last week that the company has signed a lease-to-purchase agreement on the former Maidstone Furniture building at 117 Summit Ave. and will be moving its distribution operations there this month.

Eric Thomas' hour-and-a-half commute to work from Berkeley County to College Park, Md., is over thanks to the opening of the Macy's new online fulfillment center near Martinsburg. And not only does the 53-year-old Bunker Hill, W.Va., man now work in his “backyard” as a maintenance supervisor at the 1.3 million-square-foot facility, but his daughter, Kandice, works for Macy's, too, as a financial analyst. “It's a family affair,” Thomas said smiling. Macy's has been a great place to work so far, said Thomas, who was hired March 5 while the building was still under construction.

One of the largest beauty retailers in the United States unveiled its new 373,000-square-foot Chambersburg distribution center at a grand opening ceremony on Wednesday. Ulta Beauty began hiring employees in late December for the Chambersburg distribution center, which is near Interstate 81 at 95 Kriner Road. Jim Scarfone, senior vice president of human resources for Ulta Beauty, said the company has hired nearly 190 local workers with another 200 to be hired in the next two to three years.

Chambersburg Mall was packed with people Thursday, but they weren't shopping for bargains - they were shopping for jobs. Even before the second annual Here to Help Job Fair opened at 9 a.m., hundreds of job seekers flooded into the mall in search of employment. “Jobs are something that excite me. Economic opportunity for people is what drives me,” said state Sen. Richard Alloway, R-Franklin/Adams/York, who hosted the event “Hearing all the stories about people who are struggling to make ends meet really breaks my heart,” he said.

More than 400 logistics and support jobs are expected to land in Franklin County (Pa.) this winter when Ulta Beauty opens a 350,000-square-foot distribution center near Interstate 81 off Kriner Road, according to a county development official. Ulta Beauty, a national retailer of beauty products, recently expanded into the Tri-State area, opening retail stores in Hagerstown and Frederick, Md., and planning a warehouse in Chambersburg. Representatives of the Illinois-based corporation did not return multiple requests for comment on the project.