Orgill Opens Number Six in Kilgore
In the first quarter of 2008, Orgill, Inc. plans to open its 530,000-square-foot distribution center in Kilgore, TX, 120 miles east of Dallas. Construction on the project began in April at a 65-acre plot of land in Kilgore’s Synergy Industrial Park. The new facility, Orgill’s sixth, will be modeled after the company’s state-of-the-art distribution center in Hurricane, UT.
A distributor of hardware and home improvement products, Orgill expects to initially employ at least 100 workers at its Kilgore center, expanding to 300 over the next five years.
Once operational, the facility will serve Orgill customers throughout Texas, as well as in parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Customers in these areas of the country are currently being serviced by Orgill’s distribution facilities in Memphis, TN and Tifton, GA.
“This new facility will allow us to improve our effectiveness across the board,” says Randy Williams, Orgill’s senior vice president of operations and logistics. “This will be a strategic location for us that will allow us to reduce our lead time and improve our service to customers within the four-state region, as well as create operating efficiencies for us in Tifton and Memphis.”
Staffing requirements were one of the primary reasons Orgill selected Kilgore, according to the company’s CFO, Byrne Whitehead. “Geographically, Kilgore fit our needs very well, but the real deciding factor was the quality and quantity of the labor force available in the area,” he says. “We quickly recognized that the Kilgore area had the labor market we needed to start the facility and grow it into the future.”
San Antonio Makes Space for Rackspace
In August, Rackspace Managed Hosting, a Web hosting service provider, announced plans to open a new expansion facility at Windsor Park Mall in Windcrest, TX. Rackspace, headquartered in Texas, selected the San Antonio suburb over five other out-of-state locations thanks in part to a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant valued at $22 million. This award is projected to generate more than $100 million in capital investment and create approximately 4,000 new jobs during the next five years, the largest job creation announcement in Texas since 2005.
“The Texas Enterprise Fund grant was the key factor in Rackspace’s decision to keep its company headquarters in San Antonio and build out a new campus within Windsor Park Mall,” says Graham Weston, executive chairman of Rackspace Managed Hosting. “We are committed to delivering thousands of high-paying jobs to Texas.”
Rackspace’s choice was secured by the collaborative efforts of Bexar County, the cities of San Antonio and Windcrest, and the state of Texas. The expansion falls in line with Texas Governor Rick Perry’s targeted support of the technology sector.
Albany Engineered Composites: Boerne, Again
In January, Albany Engineered Composites (AEC) decided its current operating location, Boerne, TX, was the best place to expand its facilities. A $1 million Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) award will support the expansion, which is expected to bring 337 new jobs over seven years and $41.6 million in investment to Kendall County, TX.
The new jobs will vary from engineers and executives to production workers, with an average salary of about $35,000. The project is the largest job creation and capital investment by a single company in the county’s history.
Groundbreaking of the AEC project is expected to begin in the spring of 2008 and be completed within two years. The Boerne plant currently produces advanced composite structures for the aerospace industry.
Steve Mack, CEO of Kendall County Economic Development Corporation, says his office’s primary goal is the retention and expansion of existing businesses in Kendall County. Boerne beat out cities in Alabama, New York, South Carolina, and Texas.
“Those are stiff competitors who would love to have 300 jobs in their backyard,” adds Texas Secretary of State Phil Wilson.
Brian Coffenberry, Vice President of AEC says, “The area is a perfect fit for our growth plans, and we look forward to what we hope will be a long and prosperous future in Texas.”
