Target to Locate New Distribution Center in Liberty County

Regional Facility to Employ More Than 500

ATLANTA, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Target will build a 1.5 million-square-foot regional distribution center in Midway, Georgia (Liberty County). The facility will initially employ 500, with several hundred team members added during the first five years of the facility’s operation.

“Southeast Georgia will see new jobs and economic growth thanks to the new Target distribution center,” said Governor Sonny Perdue. “As a member of the Georgia business community, Target understands that this is a great place to do business. I’m pleased they are expanding their operations here in our state.”

Site work for the new center will begin in 2005. The center, which is the first project launching Liberty County’s new 4,700 acre MidCoast Business Center adjacent to I-95, will be completed in the summer of 2007. Hiring for the facility will begin in early 2007. Regional distribution centers receive shipments from suppliers, ship products directly to Target stores, and provide storage space for merchandise.

“Midway was the ideal location for us to locate a new distribution center,” said Mitch Stover, senior vice president, distribution services, Target Corporation. “The partnership we received from the Liberty County Development Authority and the state of Georgia was extraordinary. We look forward to building a long-lasting relationship with the Midway community.”

“The Target project would not have been possible without an extensive partnership,” said Ronald Tolley, CEO of the Liberty County Development Authority. “Funding for the new park being launched by Target required a unique mix of Authority, city, county, state, and federal funds. This could have only been accomplished by visionary officials for a signature corporation like Target.”

Target currently has 25 distribution facilities in 23 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

Target operates 40 stores in the state of Georgia, including seven SuperTarget stores, and a 1.5 million-square-feet distribution center in Tifton that employs approximately 800. The new distribution center will help support Target’s increasing distribution needs and will not affect the operations of the Tifton facility.

Minneapolis-based Target serves guests at 1,308 stores in 47 states nationwide. Target gives back more than $2 million a week to its local communities through grants and special programs. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.

Additional contacts are provided below:

Paula Thornton-Greear
Target
(612) 696-3400
Ronald E. Tolley
Liberty County Development Authority
(912) 368-3356