The first shovels of dirt were turned over at the new FedEx site in Ontario on Friday afternoon, inaugurated by a number of local business and political figures.
Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchinson expressed his excitement in breaking ground on the facility at 525 Beer Road after months of hard work from Ontario City Council and the Ontario Growth Association to bring the company to the area.
“We look forward to a long relationship with FedEx and the Westmoreland Company,” said Hutchinson. “We have some vacant property around here and hopefully, with this facility being here, that will spur some growth around the area. Ontario has a strong past, but now we can say today a very bright future.”
Jada Leo, President of Westmoreland Company Inc. – which serves premier retail clients in the brokerage, acquisition, and development of properties – gave some insight on the FedEx process of choosing a site for their business. Leo noted Westmoreland has worked with FedEx for more than 20 years.
“There is an entire team of people at FedEx that analyze and evaluate sites,” said Leo. “They do a very detailed analysis figuring out where is the best place for their business and their future, because when they have this building in place it’s not short term, it’s long run. After all the analyses and conclusions were made, Ontario was the right place for FedEx to be.”
Leo praised the city of Ontario for their collaboration and said he was excited for the future.
“The investment (FedEx) is making in this community is significant,” he said. “They’re not planning on being here a week, they’re planning on being here for years and years, which is a great opportunity for your community.”
Justin Lipscomb, Principal of Moltus Building Group, said the building project is on schedule for completion by early 2015. Roger Noel, who will become the Senior Manager at the new FedEx site, stated the new building will stand at 165,000 square feet and will employ more than 90 people. He added FedEx is currently building 11 new hubs around the country, and up to 70 routes a day will be dispatched from the Ontario location.
“We cover areas as far north as Sandusky and as far east as the Ashland area,” said Noel. “We’ve got a pretty wide footprint. We’ve got a bright future and we’re really looking forward to working with the city of Ontario.”
State Representative Mark Romanchuk presented Noel with a proclamation from the House thanking FedEx for coming to the Ontario area, and emphasized the cooperation between all the developmental entities in Ohio to bring the company to the area.
“Thank you FedEx for coming to Ontario and staying in Richland County, we appreciate that very much,” said Romanchuk.
“We’ve got a bright future and we’re really looking forward to working with the city of Ontario,” said Roger Noel, who will become Senior Manager at the new FedEx site.
