Visalia
- Months of lobbying, conversations and nail-biting paid off for
the city of Visalia last week when a large supplier of medical laboratory
materials announced it was coming to the Visalia Industrial Park.
VWR International will build a 500,000 square foot facility in Visalia, purchasing the land from the Allen Group at Riggin and Kelsey. Officials said initially the company will be a 300,000 s.f. facility, with plans to expand that to 500,000 s.f. Scores of new jobs are expected.
The announcement culminated months of work by city staff and others involved in economic development in the county.
“We're ecstatic. We've been busting at the seams to get the announcement,” said Chris Young, city of Visalia Community Development director, who praised everyone who had a hand in landing the company.
The center, the second one in California for the company, will enhance VWR's distribution network and enhance its supply chain for the Western United States, said VWR in a press release.
The facility is expected to be operational in 2012.
“We realize that our success stems from placing our customers and suppliers as our top priority and then providing the right resources, processes and tools to get the work done,” stated Matt Malenfant, SVP and president of North America, Lab Distribution and Services.
The landing of the large industrial company was not easy and is the first since VF Corp came to Visalia in 2006.
“We've been working on this for a number of months,” said Young. “We didn't even know who it was for several months,” he added.
It was late last year that the city first had contact from the Economic Development Corporation of Tulare County that a large distribution company was looking here.
The company had hired a consulting firm to do its search, not revealing its identity until just a couple of months ago.
Larry Montgomery with the Allen Group, who helped arrange the sale of the land, said the company had a model and it came up with the Central Valley as the best location for its new center. It then came down to Fresno or Visalia.
“We were confident Visalia city officials could help us achieve our goals,” said Valerie Collado with the company that is headquartered in Pennsylvania.
City officials became encouraged when company representatives made their second and third visits to the area. “There were also lots of phone calls, lots of information,” said Young, one of the leaders of the city team that worked with the company to locate here.
“They did their due diligence,” he said, even taking a close look at the quality of life in Visalia. City Parks and Recreation Director Vince Elizondo did a long presentation on what the city has to offer in terms of parks and recreation.
“It was a pretty intense push for staff,” said Young, but no large financial incentives were needed. “Our incentive was the willingness to turn around (construction) plans quickly,” he added.
Montgomery said location was by far the biggest factor in bringing the company to Visalia, but the company was also impressed with the city and the city staff who were working with them.
“Selecting a location for a new West Coast distribution center was the result of careful review of many factors; it was critical that the new site be strategically located to enhance current and future customer service needs,” said John Ballbach, chairman, president and CEO of VWR. “In addition, it will also provide a great setting for our associates to work and live.”
Young said one big asset for the city is that Federal Express has a hub at the Visalia airport. The Company reportedly ships a lot of its produce via Federal Express or UPS. He did not expect the company to use a lot of large trucks.
Another plus are planned street and road improvements including the Betty Drive interchange, widening of Plaza Drive and improvements to Riggin Avenue.
“Those were big selling points for them,” Young said.
And while no officials numbers were stated as to how many people will be employed at the center, Young and city of Visalia Housing and Economic Development director Ricardo Noguera agree the number is “substantial” and the impact of industrial jobs is significant.
Industrial jobs are generally higher paying and benefitted. Noguera said, “The industrial employee is going to be supporting the retail market as well as the housing market.”
Young agreed. “It will have
quite an impact on the local economy,” – an economy with nearly
17 percent unemployment according to the July employment report.
Mayor Bob Link noted the impact the company will have on the local economy.
“The Visalia City Council, staff and community are extremely pleased that VWR has selected Visalia for the location of its new major distribution facility,” Link said.
“VWR's investment will bring many high-quality jobs to Visalia and will have a positive long-term impact on our local economy. We warmly welcome VWR to our community and look forward to a strong working relationship for many years to come.”
About VWR
VWR International, LLC, headquartered
in West Chester, Penn., is a global laboratory supply and distribution
company with worldwide sales in excess of $3.5 billion in 2009. It serves
most of the world's top pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well
as industrial, educational, and governmental organizations.
With 150 years of industry experience, VWR offers a well-established distribution
network that reaches thousands of specialized labs and facilities spanning
the globe.
The company has over 6,500 associates around the world working to streamline
the way researchers across North America, Europe, and Asia stock and maintain
their labs. The Visalia center will be the largest in the company, surpassing
the 369,400 s.f. distribution center in New Jersey.
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