UPS Move Illustrates ‘Global Logistics Powerhouse’
(Image courtesy of UPS)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis says today’s announcement from United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) involving nearly 600 new jobs in Plainfield speaks to the strength of the state’s logistics industry. Mohan Tatikonda believes Indiana’s manufacturing strength and "good fortune of location" will continue to fuel demand for logistics services in the state. UPS today detailed plans to invest $260 million into a new hub in Plainfield.
Tatikonda says, while the logistics industry is already at a "critical mass" in central Indiana, he believes it will continue to grow as sectors continue to feed off of each other.
"It’s an ecosystem," Tatikonda tells Inside INdiana Business. "Once we have companies like this, or even more capacity and flexibility and innovation, that allows other companies, say a medical device maker, to take advantage of very quick delivery to some other part of the country or some other part of the world."
Construction is already underway on the planned 893,000 square-foot facility, and UPS says it could be complete in the fall of 2019. The company says the new package handler and driver positions are expected to pay an average wage 45 percent higher than the current state average. UPS already employs about 9,500 Hoosiers.
Tatikonda says the commitment to 580 new jobs also shows UPS’ confidence in the state’s continuing efforts to "further train and develop an ample work force which should attract even more of these kinds of companies."
Tatikonda expects the logistics sector to keep growing as Indiana industries continue to feed off of each other.