Big 3PL Leases Additional Kansas City Space

Ozburn-Hessey's contract logistics campus in Reno, Nevada. PHOTO: OZBURN-HESSEY LOGISTICS, LLC

Nashville headquartered Ozburn-Hessey Logistics is building on its existing presence in the important Kansas City distribution marketplace. In the Kansas City Business Journal, Rob Roberts writes,"Ozburn-Hessey Logistics LLC has leased 187,000 square feet in the Turner Industrial District of Kansas City, Kan. Given the commercial real estate market's conditions, that's big news. But the bigger story relates to the yellow brick road Ozburn-Hessey is helping pave for other inbound industrial tenants. The company, often called OHL, has yet to become a household name in the area. But its latest lease increases the amount of warehouse and distribution space it operates on behalf of customers in this market to more than 1.5 million square feet, said [IAMC member] Jeb Atkinson, a broker with ProVenture LLC in suburban Nashville who represents the company."

Randy Wolcott is the IAMC Active member with Ozburn-Hessey Logistics.

Aramark Invests in UF Food-Service Facility

To improve food serve availability on the University of Florida campus, Aramark and the school are teaming up to construct a new building to house two restaurants. The student newspaper, The Alligator, says, "A new building housing Subway and Jamba Juice will be built on the southwest corner of Turlington Hall, near where the UF Information Booth is located, wrote Lionel Dubay, the director of the UF Business Services Division, in an e-mail. Dubay said the project's contractor has begun clearing the area where the new building will stand in preparation for construction. The construction will be completed around May."

Ramon Hernandez is the IAMC Active member with Aramark, which ranks 198^th on the Fortune-500 list and 1^st on Fortune's list of diversified outsourcing companies.

BNSF Collaborates with Dakota Firms to Open new Rail Facility

Rail sidings to serve individual businesses used to be very common. But to cut costs, many sidings were eliminated by the rail companies. On the other hand, railroads will add service when justified by shipping volume. BNSF found such an opportunity in Williston, N.D., to serve a grain shipper and an oil field products company. The Williston Herald reports, "West Dakota has a specialty grain operation at the site, and Dakota Quality has a grain elevator and a fertilizer facility at the location, according to local spokesperson, Blaine Mosby. 'So there was existing track there that was underutilized and there was potential there to add a facility to service the crude oil industry,' Mosby said. ... [D]iscussions about the new facility have been ongoing over the past 12-18 months. 'Obviously, the railroad has a lot of requirements. So we worked with the BNSF to address all of their issues. As far as the initial volumes that will be going through there, it will be frac sand for fracing the oil wells. It's not a hazardous material, so there are not a lot of environmental issues to go through.'"

Boeing to Build Maintenance and Repair Facility in Nagpur

As formerly third world locations grow, prosper and become significant air travel destinations, the major commercial aircraft manufacturers have to consider whether local maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities need to be placed in these locations to service their planes. An article in Reuters says, "Boeing will supply the first Dreamliner 787 aircraft to Air India by the second quarter of 2011, said Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar, adding that more planes would be delivered to the national carrier at a later stage. He added that the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in the city of Nagpur should be up and running in two-and-a-half years. It will maintain the 787 and 777 aircraft, he added."

Jeff Adelson is the IAMC Active member with Boeing, which ranks 34^th on the Fortune-500 list and 1^st on Fortune's list of aerospace and defense companies.

General Electric Obtains Stimulus Funds for Schenectady Plant

GE's Fairfield Campus in the winter PHOTO: GENERAL ELECTRIC

GE has accessed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act credits to assist with the building of its energy storage systems facility in Schenectady, N.Y. An article on IndustryWeek.com by Josh Cable says, "GE selected the Schenectady site for energy storage manufacturing in August 2009. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational by mid-2011, according to the company. GE said it already has invested more than $150 million in developing battery technologies, and the tax credit will supplement GE's investments in the new product line that will serve the rail, marine, mining, telecommunications and utility sectors."

Terry Rees is the IAMC Active member with General Electric, which ranks 5^th on the Fortune-500 list and 1^st on Fortune's list of diversified financial companies.

Caterpillar to JV with Diesel Maker China Yuchai

Heavy equipment and diesel engine manufacturer Caterpillar was one of the first U.S. companies to emerge from the recession as it experienced growth in orders from China and India. Business blog Motley Fool reports, "In light of China's increasing infrastructure construction activity and the growth of its rural cities, China Yuchai has been positioning itself to meet the growing demand for its commercial-vehicle diesel engines. It expanded assembly capacity with a new facility in Xiamen and recently began construction of a new R&D facility. ... China Yuchai recently signed a joint venture deal with Caterpillar to start a diesel engine remanufacturing business."

Marty Collier is the IAMC Active member with Caterpillar, which ranks 44^th on the Fortune-500 list and 1^st on Fortune's list of construction and farm machinery companies.

Coke Enterprises Leases Space near Orlando

Companies with big supply chains, like Coca-Cola Enterprises, continually look for opportunities to trim costs out of their supply operations. CNN Money reports, "DCT™ leased the 70,400 square foot ADC XI building to Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc., which consolidated several facilities into DCT's project in the Southeast sub-market. Coca-Cola Enterprises will use this facility to serve central Florida."

Matt Fanoe and Kenneth Owens are the IAMC Active members with Coca-Cola Enterprises, which ranks 116^th on the Global-500 list and 2^nd on Fortune's list of beverages companies.

Corrections Corp. Evaluates Prescott Valley Location

Jail and prison developer Corrections Corporation of America builds and operates its facilities for state and local governments. Reporting on a proposal by Correction Corp. to locate one of its facilities in Prescott, Ariz., the Prescott News says, "Prescott Valley Town Council chambers were packed last night, but it had nothing to do with any item on the agenda. Those in attendance at the meeting waited until the public comment portion at the end of the meeting to share their input on a proposed 5,000-bed prison facility. Prescott Valley Economic Development Foundation Chairwoman Jeri Ann Kooiman expressed her support, indicating more jobs are needed in town. Others wearing signs that read 'Prison Valley' voiced their opposition to the project. Corrections Corporation of America is in the siting phase for a new facility."

Marcelo Ariola, Frank Betancourt, Jay Hollis, Budea Johns and Brad Wiggins are the IAMC Active members with Corrections Corporation of America.

Honeywell-Operated Defense Plant to be Replaced

The on-again, off-again efforts to upgrade or replace the U.S. nuclear weapons parts manufacturing Plant Bannister near Kansas City operated by Honeywell International seem to be back on track. Even so, controversies about cleanup of the old plant persist. A blog article about the project says, "Basically, the news is Honeywell ... is planning a new nuclear weapons components facility to replace the aging (and hazardous) Bannister plant. The gist of article is as follows:

• The project would build a 1.4 million-square-foot campus at Missouri 150 and Botts Road;
• The agreement, which has been in the works for two years, would keep 2,100 jobs currently at the plant, which manufactures 85 percent of the non-nuclear parts for the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal;
• The developer, CenterPoint Zimmer LLC, must obtain final private financing for the project by March 31;(Zimmer Real Estate Services, represented in IAMC by Mark Long, is a project partner);
• The project requires city approval because it calls for using a $2.6 million annual property tax abatement over 25 years; and
• The timetable calls for the first buildings to open by July 2012."

Phil Hammel is the IAMC Active member with Honeywell, which ranks 63^rd on the Fortune-500 list and 4^th on Fortune's list of aerospace and defense companies.

BASF Chelating Agent Production Plant Opens for Business

BASF's headquarters (high-rise on left) and chemical production facilities in Ludwigshafen, Germany PHOTO: BASF SE

Even during the recession, the world's largest chemicals company BASF is building production capacity in anticipation of the recovery. For example, the company reports, "BASF brings a world-scale plant for sustainable chelating agent Trilon M on stream ahead of schedule. [This] ... expands annual global production capacity for chelating agents to 120,000 tons. [The plant creates] 18 new jobs in Ludwigshafen. Trilon M significantly improves eco-friendliness of detergents and cleaning agents. Demand for Trilon M is rising rapidly."

Bill Pearson and Charlie Waltz are the IAMC Active members with BASF, which ranks 59^th on the Fortune-500 list and 1^st on Fortune's list of global chemicals companies.

* With each project, we provide the name(s) of the IAMC member(s) from the organization(s) involved. This is for information purposes. We are not indicating or suggesting that the member was involved in the project.