Wal-Mart is Growing Again

Click here for State News Release

May 28, 2004

Contact:  Keith A. Taylor, Economic Development Director, James City County, VA
Phone: (757) 253-6607

Virginia Governor Mark Warner, the James City County Board of Supervisors and its Economic Development Authority jointly announced Wal-Mart’s plans to add a $28.5 million expansion to its import distribution facilities at the GreenMount Industrial Park in James City County.  Wal-Mart will construct a separate1,000,000 square foot building, on 243 additional acres it has just acquired from GreenMount Associates.  The new facility is expected to be operational by early 2006.  An additional 125 Wal-Mart associates will be hired to run the expanded center.  James City County competed with locations in Maryland and Pennsylvania for this investment.

Mark Kilduff, Executive Director of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership noted, “I am pleased with Wal-Mart’s decision to expand its East Coast Import Distribution Facility in the Commonwealth of Virginia . The world’s number one retailer, with its efficient and sophisticated distribution, continues to make good use of the Port of Virginia . We are proud that Wal-Mart has, once again, chosen Virginia because of its exceptional worldwide access.”

Wal-Mart was first convinced to consider the area in 1999 by the combined efforts of the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Peninsula Alliance for Economic Development , and James City County ’s Office of Economic Development .  The added facility at the GreenMount Industrial Park will enhance service there as a warehousing and distribution center for international consumer goods coming through the Port of Virginia and going to regional distribution centers up and down the East Coast.

Wal-Mart is America ’s number one employer with over 1.3 million associates.  Company sales surpassed $244.5 billion in 2003, keeping it Number One on the Fortune 500 list.  Wal-Mart donates over $150 million annually to charitable organizations.

Rollin Ford, Wal-Mart Executive Vice President of Logistics and Supply Chain, explained, “This is a significant project that represents our continued commitment to Virginia as a partner in both economic development and community.  Wal-Mart picked James City County and the Virginia Peninsula for this expansion to better serve the growing number of Wal-Mart customers who shop at our stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

Bruce C. Goodson, James City County Board of Supervisors Chairman and representative from the Roberts District, which includes the GreenMount Industrial Park, said, “Wal-Mart has been a model corporate citizen since its arrival here.  The additional 125 jobs it will create with this expansion will provide needed fulltime additional employment opportunities for our area.  This news should only add impetus to the pending realigned Route 60 highway improvement project in that area, a project on which the County, Wal-Mart, and many others have collectively worked so hard”, Goodson added.

“Wal-Mart has made a major corporate commitment in James City County with this second expansion announcement”, noted Vincent A. “Skip” Campana, Jr., Chairman of James City County’s Economic Development Authority.  “This will bring Wal-Mart’s distribution center presence here to more than 420 acres, three million square feet of under-roof space, in excess of $95 million in combined capital investment, and approximately 650 jobs”, Campana remarked.

Virginia Governor Warner approved a grant request by James City County for $100,000 from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund via the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to assist with site acquisition and preparation.  The County and its EDA will also aid Wal-Mart through its James River Enterprise Zone local inducements package. County staff will provide fast-track permitting to help the company achieve its target completion date.  The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide workforce training services to Wal-Mart.