Many elected officials were on hand at noon today when FedEx has a groundbreaking ceremony for a new automated distribution center on Industrial Parkway in Mabelvale. Government assistance, including an infrastructure grant from Little Rock, has aided the project.

The 300,000-square-foot facility will employ about 38 full-time and 53 part-time workers, some new and some transferred from existing facilities. Reports of the center, and ongoing prep work, have circulated for some time, but the company has not commented officially about it until today. It is expected to open in August. It’s one of some 560 distribution hubs and local pickup stations around the country.

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The Little Rock City Board was given this summary of the project in approving a grant:

The Governor, through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission’s Economic Infrastructure Fund, has awarded the City of Little Rock a grant to facilitate FedEx constructing a new $24.9 Million dollar ground distribution center and infrastructure along the Mabelvale Cut-Off extension area. This includes approximately 2,800 linear-feet of new public road, together with additional improvements at the intersection of Mabelvale Cut-Off Extension, South Loop Road and Alexander Road. Total off-site public infrastructure improvements have been estimated at approximately $1,670,000. The project will create eleven (11) new permanent positions (at an average rate of $22.31), fifty-three (53) new part-time positions, retain twenty-seven (27) positions, and over 250 construction jobs.

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