ASHLEY — As town officials waited anxiously to be able to announce that a distribution center was locating in Ashley, they didn’t know which one would be first.
In addition to Wednesday’s announcement that Family Dollar will invest $70 million in a 815,000-square-foot facility that will employ 350 people, Ashley officials have another distribution center lined up.
As is the case with other economic development work, details cannot be made public yet.
“We have one that is in process, but technically it has not been released,” said Randy McEntarfer, Ashley planner.
That distribution center is expected to move into an existing facility in town and will provide 40 new jobs, McEntarfer said. An announcement should be coming in a few weeks, possibly in February.
Once that development is announced, it will make Ashley the home of three distribution centers, Bostwick Braun, a hardware distributor that has been in town more than 26 years; Family Dollar, which will be located across I-69 from Bostwick Braun; and the yet-to-be-identified facility.
With about 400 acres of land still available for development, McEntarfer would like to see more distribution center and logistics development, but is open to manufacturing.
“I think distribution, due to our location, is probably our best avenue,” McEntarfer said.
Gary Nielander, executive director of the Steuben County Economic Development Corp., said when he arrived in Steuben County in 2004, he was surprised there weren’t more distribution facilities in Steuben County.
“When I first came here, I was taken aback a bit because there weren’t more logistical firms in here,” he said.
Though not all of the interchanges would be suitable for development, there are five interstate highway interchanges in Steuben County, not including those at the Indiana Toll Road.
Ashley is set up perfectly for this type of business. It is right next to entrance-exit 140 off I-69. The land available for development is very close to the interstate. The way the Family Dollar project is being laid out, trucks will have to travel only 800 to 1,000 feet to get to the interstate, McEntarfer said.
“There’s no question this facility, the size of the project, will draw others to the other property we have available,” McEntarfer said.
That other property includes 40 acres north of Family Dollar, on the south side of C.R. 800S (the DeKalb-Steuben county line road). There’s another 85 acres on the north side of C.R. 800S that is very close to the interstate. Two other properties that are south of existing manufacturing facilities on the west side of I-69 are also within a stone’s throw of the interstate. To access those properties, the town has made road improvements to better handle potential truck traffic, keeping it out of the downtown and residential areas.