Office Depot brings 250 jobs to Cumberland County distribution site

Combining store and business customer inventories, Florida-based Office Depot will open a new distribution center in Newville, Cumberland County next month. Melissa Perlman, spokesperson for the retailer, says the decision will result in 250 jobs at the previously vacant Key Logistics Park near exit 37 of Interstate 81.

The Office Depot center will fill a 1.2 million square foot building that has been vacant since its completion in early 2009. The state offered $707,000 of economic development assistance to the company, including $375,000 in opportunity grants, $232,000 worth of job-creation tax credits and $100,000 for customized job training. The presence of a major tenant is expected to jumpstart construction of two more buildings in the park.

Perlman says the new facility is a first for Office Depot, adding that it will be a model for streamlining inventory throughout the chain. “We’re moving operations from four other locations in the Northeast: Boston, Baltimore, Westhampton, New York, and Mountaintop (Luzerne County),” she says. Employees at those locations have the opportunity to relocate to the Carlisle area, and new management and non-management jobs will be available.

With operations in 49 countries worldwide, Office Depot has 1,200 retail locations in the U.S. and Canada. In December 2008, it announced closings at 112 stores.

Source: Melissa Perlman, Office Depot
Writer: Chris O’Toole