Local officials are heralding the arrival of a new 300,000 square foot Fed-Ex Ground facility on the outskirts of Little Rock. Amid a few remaining horse pastures and cattle ranches, a now-barren field in the Mabelvale neighborhood, will, by August 2016, give rise to the new shipping hub behemoth.
This expansion includes “job opportunities for the great workforce in the area and continued growth for FedEx Ground, ” according to Don Davis, Managing Director of the company's Mississippi Valley region.
The new facility will bring 150 full and part time jobs, a number that includes the temporary construction jobs needed to build the project. But Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola notes there will also be four-hundred parking spaces.
“That tells me there's growth here. There's lots of growth. And I'm very, very excited about what that means,” he said.
Elected officials, including Stodola, 2nd District Congressman French Hill, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton and Lt. Governor Tim Griffin were in attendance for the groundbreaking The facility will soon be part of the company's 560 nationwide distribution hubs. It also represents a bit of a comeback for Little Rock, whose Airport commission once passed on expanding its runways for the start-up Federal Express, first founded here in the early 70's.
“We now know what that meant to Fred Smith in Memphis,” noted Stodola referring to the founder of the company who later found a more receptive airport administration in that city.
Nevertheless, other speakers like U.S. Senator Tom Cotton emphasized the wider meaning of the expansion.
“In Washington, policymakers often try to find what they call 'leading indicators,” showing the potential for economic growth, he said.
The FedEx facility is to benefit from a 250,000 dollar grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, as well as other state tax incentives.
“And the fact that Fedex Ground would be located here in Central Arkansas says very great things about what's going to be happening in Central Arkansas,” Cotton said.
After donning hard hats before the cameras and moving sand with golden shovels, officials parted and work on the facility got underway.
This post was modified to reflect additional information on 2/20/15.