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UPS hiring 4,900 in $1 billion expansion
By Wayne Tompkins
The Courier-Journal
UPS is planning a $1 billion expansion of its Worldport air cargo hub at Louisville International Airport that will add 1,200 full-time and 3,700 part-time jobs to the facility, sources at the company said Tuesday.
The company is also planning a significant physical expansion of its Worldport facilities, and will do so without acquiring additional land, the sources said.
The expansion is the result of UPS’s increase in international, domestic and express air cargo traffic as it takes advantage of an expanding global economy.
An official announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning at UPS’s Worldport facility. Several top officials are planning to attend, reportedly including Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.
Abramson was coy yesterday when asked to comment on UPS’s plans.
“It’s going to be a great day for Louisville,” he said.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority is scheduled to meet half an hour earlier in Frankfort to consider incentives for the project.
UPS is the region’s largest private employer in the metro region, providing 18,000 jobs.
The company already is in the middle an $82.5 million expansion that involves a 700,000-square-foot heavy-freight hub due to open next month. The company, as of last week, said it still needed to hire for 700 part-time positions.
The latest expansion is expected to begin late this year, a source at UPS said.
Paul Coomes, an economist at the University of Louisville, said the expansion to be announced Wednesday would be welcome.
“There has not been much voltage in the local economy on the job front in Louisville in five years,” Coomes said. “This would probably qualify as the biggest job announcement in Louisville since the late ‘90s.”
Coomes said Louisville’s job numbers peaked in 2000.
Fred Zuckerman, president of the Teamsters Local 89, said he wasn’t aware of the company’s plans, but said “that’s absolutely fantastic for us,” upon hearing about them.
About two thirds of the Local 89’s 15,000-person members are UPS employees and Zuckerman said that because of the type of jobs being added, the additional employees could be Local 89 members.
UPS shares closed at $80.76, down 56 cents.
News of the pending announcement broke after the close of trading.
By Wayne Tompkins
The Courier-Journal
UPS is planning a $1 billion expansion of its Worldport air cargo hub at Louisville International Airport that will add 1,200 full-time and 3,700 part-time jobs to the facility, sources at the company said Tuesday.
The company is also planning a significant physical expansion of its Worldport facilities, and will do so without acquiring additional land, the sources said.
The expansion is the result of UPS’s increase in international, domestic and express air cargo traffic as it takes advantage of an expanding global economy.
An official announcement is scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning at UPS’s Worldport facility. Several top officials are planning to attend, reportedly including Gov. Ernie Fletcher and Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.
Abramson was coy yesterday when asked to comment on UPS’s plans.
“It’s going to be a great day for Louisville,” he said.
The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority is scheduled to meet half an hour earlier in Frankfort to consider incentives for the project.
UPS is the region’s largest private employer in the metro region, providing 18,000 jobs.
The company already is in the middle an $82.5 million expansion that involves a 700,000-square-foot heavy-freight hub due to open next month. The company, as of last week, said it still needed to hire for 700 part-time positions.
The latest expansion is expected to begin late this year, a source at UPS said.
Paul Coomes, an economist at the University of Louisville, said the expansion to be announced Wednesday would be welcome.
“There has not been much voltage in the local economy on the job front in Louisville in five years,” Coomes said. “This would probably qualify as the biggest job announcement in Louisville since the late ‘90s.”
Coomes said Louisville’s job numbers peaked in 2000.
Fred Zuckerman, president of the Teamsters Local 89, said he wasn’t aware of the company’s plans, but said “that’s absolutely fantastic for us,” upon hearing about them.
About two thirds of the Local 89’s 15,000-person members are UPS employees and Zuckerman said that because of the type of jobs being added, the additional employees could be Local 89 members.
UPS shares closed at $80.76, down 56 cents.
News of the pending announcement broke after the close of trading.