Wal-Mart Distribution Center brings jobs

Photo by Brett Tieszen

Conveyor belts in the new Wal-Mart Distribution Center, located near Mt. Crawford off of I-81. The facility is 1.2 million square feet in size.

A new Wal-Mart distribution facility the size of 10 supercenters is scheduled to begin operation near Mt. Crawford in January, bringing the promise of more than 1,000 jobs to the valley.

According to the general manager of the distribution center, Gary Brasseur, the plant has been five years in the planning. Construction lasted 10 months and concluded on July 5th of this year. The facility will begin service in January of 2006.

Brasseur said the facility will only serve 45 stores when it begins operation, but that over a course of 18 months it will increase its workload to eventually serve 72 stores. The stores served will be within a radius of 150-180 miles.

According to Brasseur the facility will process "7000 of the most popular dry goods." It will not process any pharmaceuticals, hazardous goods, or refrigerated goods. The value of the merchandise in the building at any given time will average from $50 to $75 million.

The biggest news is the new jobs that the Wal-Mart center will bring. The positions available will increase as the plant increases its workload. Brasseur said that the facility will have around 700 positions by the end of March, 2006, and around 900 jobs by September. Shifts will include 200 to 350 workers depending on the day and time. The distribution center may eventually have up to 80 part-time positions and an equal number of office positions. Most positions, will be general warehouse staff. Brasseur said that starting wages will be $14 an hour.

Scott Coombs, Workforce Sources Supervisor of the Virginia Employment Commission's Harrisonburg office said that although Wal-Mart applications had only been available since Oct. 11th, on the 17th he estimated that 8,000 applications had been given out, and that four to five thousand had been returned in the Harrisonburg office alone. Coombs said that there had been a "continuous flow of applicants," and that interest was regional, not just local. He said that this was in part due to applicants anticipating the opening of the facility.

Coombs said that facility employment may eventually expand to 1200 positions, and noted that since the region has only three percent unemployment, many of the applicants are already employed and looking to change jobs.

Although having the distribution center near Harrisonburg will not lower the prices at local Wal-Marts, its proximity will ensure that empty shelves can be restocked sooner.

But the center will also cause increased traffic on Interstate 81. Brasseur said that initial rumors of truck traffic level increase were high. He cited statistics from a similar facility that logged 291 trucks entering and leaving the facility each day during an average week, and 367 trucks visiting the facility per day during its busiest week in the year.

The number of workers will also increase traffic. Brasseur said congestion will be worst from four to five in the afternoon due to workers changing shifts, but the plant will schedule fewer truck deliveries during shift changes to reduce traffic somewhat.

Brasseur said that truck traffic generated by the facility will be contained to I-81, and that most commuter traffic will use the interstate as well.

Local business leaders are looking forward to Wal-Mart's increased charitable involvement in the community. "They'll be able to give back to the economy locally," said Christine Michaels, executive director of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce. "Wal-Mart has for years had a policy where their stores are very strong community members. . . . The distribution center will have its own charitable budget. That's very exciting for local non-profits."

"I don't shop at Wal-Mart, but efficiency in distribution is good for society since it lowers cost," said EMU Professor of Business Spencer Cowles. He said the distribution center would be useful for anyone pursuing an interest in logistics. "They [Wal-Mart] have the most efficient distribution system in the world. I plan to take one of my classes there for a field trip."