Business is back in a part of Baltimore County that was once home to Bethlehem Steel. FedEx has a new facility that’s created hundreds of jobs.
In the shadows of what was, local leaders think FedEx’s new distribution facility in Sparrows Point is what the future will be.
“This was a team effort. Everybody worked together. It really took help from the government on all levels and I think if we all work together – everybody believes in bringing in more jobs, right,” Governor Larry Hogan said and then asked rhetorically.
Politics aside, Hogan says a multi-governmental partnership was necessary to create the 307,000 square foot facility.
It’s a high tech, automated facility that’ll sort and send off packages with greater efficiency and it has created jobs, hundreds of them.
Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz says losing almost 2,000 jobs when the steel making plant closed its doors hurt a chunk of the eastern part of the county.
“When that folded in 2012, it was a big loss and people’s way of life actually changed. It was tough. I’m really glad we were able to turn this around. We lost 2,000 jobs, but we’re gaining 17,000 jobs within the next ten years,” he said.
A plan that’s starting with FedEx.
“I also knew, that if we worked and thought this through that we could create this next century of jobs here and this next generation of jobs,” Kamenetz said.
A future that the governor thinks will bring new life to the county and to the region.
“It’s going to put about 275 people to work, directly. But indirectly, they do business with about 150 small businesses, so they actually impact about 1200 different jobs in the area and bring in a lot of revenue,” Hogan said.
The building has been running fully since July.
The plan is to build and grow out both in building size and job opportunities when service demands grow.
