Many local luminaries, including Arkansas-side Mayor Allen L. Brown and Texas-side Mayor Bob Bruggeman, arrived to celebrate the opening of the new FedEx Service Center, located on U.S. Highway 67-the famed "Rock n' Roll Highway-Friday at noon.
They were greeted by a sprawling, sparkling and spit-shined hub that was created with the expectation it will expand in size, capacity and staffing.
Located just northeast of the Texarkana, Ark., city limit along the Interstate 30 corridor, the center syncs with a growing ground transportation system that opens it to a world of possibilities.
Because expandability is built into its design, the new facility can meet current needs and then be modified to meet future transportation activity, company officials told the crowd.
"This is the perfect location to process freight coming out of locations like Memphis and Houston," said Gann Brooks, Director of Operations in Arkansas and Oklahoma, whose district includes the new facility. "We knew we wanted to build in this area. We took time to figure out exactly where, but this was it."
"FedEx as a company was aware of Texarkana becoming a center for several traffic arteries and we wanted to be near that," he said.
The new facility will initially employ around 100 workers. It has 155 working freight doors and is a 132,000 square foot working area located on 60 acres near the Mandeville I-30 exit. It is a state-of-the-art facility, applying the knowledge of both what FedEx has learned about these kinds of facilities in the past as well as anticipated needs.
"Each location has its particular needs and we adjust as necessary, always with a mind for expansion, other components in the network as well as projected area growth," said John Smith, president and CEO of FedEx Freight. "The U.S. economy looks to expand as much as 2 percent annually on the average and we are trying to stay ahead of that, from a facility perspective."
"The choice of location here in Texarkana is a statement of confidence from the company," he said. "We want to be ready for the expansion of the transportation network, allowing for growth over the next few decades."
Smith, who has been with FedEx 19 years and in the freight business 33 years, and at one time was the holder of a commercial driver's license, has seen his share of these facilities and the lessons learned.
"We make them better and better and apply our knowledge and what we have learned. This facility is easily expandable and is built with state-0f-the-art design and equipment," he said.
One can see that, taking a walk around the space inside the facility, noting the electric forklifts that were chosen for reduced noise and cleaner operations. Also, one can see, looking to the ceiling, lights coming on over the path of the walker, lighting the path of someone who may be moving through or working in the area.
"We have other service centers in the region," said Brooks, "Main one closest is Shreveport. But it is at capacity. The region needed more capacity to expand into to serve our customers in this region. This facility does just that and gives us plenty of room to grow. This center is a great center, beautiful and ready for that job, operating 24 hours, six days a week."