FedEx will occupy a new distribution facility in Grand Forks’ business park for its ground operations, company officials confirmed Thursday.
The 120,000-square-foot facility will be located on a 13-acre piece of land off of South 48th Street. A city committee approved a land sale for a distribution facility last year, although the facility’s operator was not been disclosed publicly.
A development plan application from Wisconsin-based Ruedebusch Development submitted in mid-June lists the project as a “FedEx package distribution center.” A statement issued Thursday by FedEx Ground spokeswoman Ashley Faderewski said the building will be completed in August 2015.
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It also stated that the new distribution facility will replace “an existing facility nearby,” which Faderewski said is located near the Grand Forks International Airport. The move is not affecting the air operations the company has at the airport, according to Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp. Vice President Keith Lund.
“When the new facility opens, employee positions will move from the existing station, and we will add to the workforce as necessary to support increased demand for service in the area,” according to the statement. It’s not clear how many new jobs will be added by the project.
Lund said FedEx’s expansion is another sign of Grand Forks’ economic growth. He added that companies are looking to the area partly because of its proximity to western North Dakota and Canada.
The company cited “access to major highways, proximity to customers’ distribution centers, and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees” as reasons for adding a distribution center here.
FedEx is expanding nationwide, the statement said, to increase capacity and improve speed and service. The company has opened 11 new hubs since 2005, and expanded or relocated more than 500 facilities.
Those efforts have meant faster ground delivery in most of the country, the statement said.
The Grand Forks Jobs Development Authority approved the land sale to Fischer & Co., which is a corporate real estate firm acting as the representative of the company that will lease the building. Dallas-based Fischer agreed to a price of $108,900 per acre for the land in December.
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