Staff report from Press Release
On Tuesday, June 20, Walmart announced plans to build a 1.2 million square-foot hightech perishable goods distribution center in Belvidere. This center would handle fresh produce, eggs, dairy, flowers, and frozen goods for delivery to nearby Walmart stores. Locally, Walmart currently operates a retail Supercenter in Belvidere, which sells groceries, general merchandise, and a pharmacy at 2101 Gateway Center Drive.
The new distribution center would be located on Town Hall Road immediately north of US 20 and the sprawling Stellantis Belvidere Assembly Plant. Completion of the new facility is scheduled for 2027.
Boone County officials have been working with the Illinois Department of Transportation over relocating Illinois Route 76 from a proposed roundabout at the current junction of Route 76 and Woodstock Road along a new alignment that would follow Town Hall Road south to US 20.
Walmart is expected to invest over $1.2 billion in the distribution center, which will bring 450 permanent jobs to the area, as well as construction employment. Local taxing bodies are in the process of modifying the BelvidereBoone Enterprise Program. Under this program, this project will be eligible for 50% fee reduction for building permits, building materials sales tax exemptions, property tax abatements, and an investment tax credit. “
The City of Belvidere is excited that Walmart has decided to invest in our community and build their 1.2 million-squarefoot distribution storage facility here,” said Belvidere Mayor Clint Morris. “Walmart’s investment supports our commitment to attract business development and job opportunity and represents a huge success for Belvidere in achieving both.”
Pamela Fettes, Executive Director of Growth Dimensions states that “Growth Dimensions Economic Development is ecstatic that Walmart has chosen BelvidereBoone County for their 1.2 million-square-foot perishable distribution center. We are grateful for Walmart’s investment and the economic impact in Northern Illinois. We look forward to this partnership in years to come.”
Walmart announced its first high-tech perishable goods distribution center in 2018. The speed and efficiency of the systems used in high-tech perishable goods distribution centers, such as the one planned for Belvidere enable the facility to move double the amount of merchandise as compared to a traditional perishable distribution center. Rather than manually stacking boxes and building pallets, the new facility will allow workers to use technology to do the heavy lifting by helping them build more flexible, dense pallets and fit more products onto trucks. These technical improvements also reduce transportation costs, resulting in savings that can be passed on to customers. “
Belvidere Perishable Goods Distribution Center associates will work with cutting-edge technology to stack boxes in a way that not only makes the job less physically demanding, but also avoids damaging products by placing fragile items like eggs at the top. It also maximizes space on trucks so that we can make fewer trips,” said Prathibha Rajashekhar, senior vice president of Innovation & Automation at Walmart U.S. “The end result is getting high quality grocery items like dairy and fresh produce onto our store shelves and in the hands of our customers faster than ever before.” “
Walmart’s investment in technology and high-tech distribution centers paves the way for lasting careers,” said Maren Waggoner, senior vice president of Operations People Partner at Walmart U.S. “Associates who work at the facility will be building skillsets that reflect the modern era of retail, creating new opportunities for career development and lasting growth with Walmart.”
Full-time employees qualify for Walmart’s total rewards and benefits plans, including medical, vision and dental insurance, 401(k) matching, paid time off, stock purchase plan and access to a tuition-paid college degree.
Walmart currently operates seven distribution centers, 184 retail stores, and employs 57,800 associates in the state of Illinois. Globally, the company had fiscal year 2023 revenue of $611 billion and employed approximately 2.1 million employees worldwide with more than 10,500 stores in 20 countries.
From: June 22, 2023 The Boone County Journal Legislation from page 1 Publisher/Editor David C. Larson
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