Looks like your Amazon orders may come even faster.
UPS has invested an estimated $300 million to triple the size of its package facility in Louisville.
The expansion will grow its facility to 838,000 square feet and will bring about 300 jobs, company officials said Thursday. Most of those new jobs will be high-skilled labor.
The upgrade includes a fully automated building.
“I think the e-commerce boom is a big deal,” says Lou Rivieccio, president of UPS’ Ohio Valley District.
On the benefit to customers Rivieccio says, “We’ll double the process rate in terms of volume we can take through the building.”
Sorting capacity will increase to 85,000 packages per hour; that’s up from the 40,000 packages per hour in 2008.
UPS is Louisville’s largest employer, with more than 22,000 workers. Mayor Greg Fischer attended the news conference announcing the expansion on Thursday and described the logistics giant as a “super critical, strategic partner of our city.”
Fischer also connected the expansion to what he described as a renaissance happening in the city with a burst of new jobs and businesses in the city. “The eyes of the world are on our city and workforce,” he said.
U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who was also at the announcement, described the company as an economic engine for the region.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and Gov. Matt Bevin also attended the event. Paul repeated a common message, saying government should get out of the way to help businesses prosper. Bevin further promoted his Red Tape Initiative to reduce regulations for businesses in Kentucky.
UPS built its Centennial hub in 2007, during the company’s 100-year anniversary. The expansion will happen in three phases and will last until 2020.
