Governor Perdue Welcomes FedEx Ground Facility to Kennesaw

Facility to Nearly Double Company’s Atlanta Area Daily Package Volume Capacity

ATLANTA, GA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that FedEx Ground, the small-package ground delivery unit of FedEx Corp., has selected a 75-acre site in Kennesaw, Georgia as the location for a new 247,000-square-foot automated distribution facility to be opened by summer 2006.

“Georgia has always been a center of business, commerce, and distribution for the United States and the world,” said Governor Sonny Perdue.  “Our integrated transportation system and our state’s pro-business attitude provide the foundation on which companies like FedEx Ground can succeed.”

The new facility will have a workforce of approximately 475 employees and independent contractors.  Equipped with the latest material handling systems, the facility will open as an automated terminal capable of processing 15,000 packages per hour and is expected to be converted to a 322,000-square-foot hub in fiscal year 2010.  After the expansion, the hub will be able to sort 30,000 packages per hour and is projected to have a workforce of nearly 800.

“This state-of-the-art automated terminal will complement our existing operations in the Atlanta area and will enhance what our customers already tell us is the best small-package ground pickup and delivery service in the industry,” said Daniel J. Sullivan, president and CEO of FedEx Ground.

Located at the intersection of Old Cobb Highway and Airport Road in Kennesaw, the new distribution center will be the second major FedEx Ground facility in the metro Atlanta area.   FedEx Ground currently operates a hub in Ellenwood, which recently completed a $21.5 million expansion and upgrade to its materials handling systems.  The company also maintains local pickup and delivery terminals in Ellenwood, Marietta, and Norcross.  The company has a total workforce of more than 1,400 in the metro Atlanta area.

“The site for this new distribution facility is close to FedEx Ground’s customers, major highways, and a strong local labor pool,” said Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) Commissioner Craig Lesser.  “Georgia has once again proven that it has the pieces in place to drive business.”

The new facility is part of the company’s $1.8 billion network expansion plan.  Announced in September 2002, the network investment includes the construction of nine new hubs, the expansion of 30 existing hubs, and the relocation of nearly 290 pickup and delivery terminals.  In response to increasing customer demand, the nationwide expansion will nearly double the company’s average daily hub volume package capacity to 5.3 million packages by the end of fiscal year 2010.