FDX - GSO / PTI Hub Update
07-09-2008, 04:40 AM
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FDX - GSO / PTI Hub Update
FedEx going full throttle for PTI hub
By Richard M. Barron
Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8 updated Wednesday, July 9, 5:28 am
FedEx construction at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx’s stock price has been dropping like a plane on final descent.
Because of the shaky economy and high fuel prices, the price has fallen from about $100 two months ago to about $75.
Late last month, FedEx announced its first quarterly loss in more than 10 years because of rising costs and dropping demand for shipping.
But the company’s East Coast hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport remains on track to open in 2009 and is not endangered by the company’s weaker financial reports, the company said.
“Everything is still on schedule,” said Jim McCluskey, a FedEx spokesman. “We’re very pleased with the project.”
The package-sorting building is essentially finished, with ongoing construction inside.
The $300 million hub is financed in part by $115 million in state tax exemptions and credits.
With rising oil prices, FedEx is passing much of its fuel costs on to customers with a surcharge for FedEx Express that rose to 32.5 percent Monday.
“From an investor’s perspective, (fuel) is not going to hurt profitability that much because they pass on the cost of fuel prices,” said Rich Smith, a contributing writer at The Motley Fool, an investors’ Web site.
“The downside to that, though, is that obviously when you raise prices on anything you’re going to decrease demand so people are going to look for alternatives.”
With company and state money already committed to seeing the PTI project through, FedEx’s continued reduction in capital budgets won’t have an impact.
And Smith said the company is likely to focus what spending it does on more fuel-efficient planes, which would only mean good news for hub operations overall.
McCluskey declined to speculate whether the bad economy and fuel crisis could force the hub to open next year with a reduced number of flights.
But if it serves Europe from PTI — as the company has said it might — FedEx could make more money from the hub, Smith said, because international shipments are the company’s fastest-growing segment.
“To the extent that they do Europe or South America, I think that would mitigate traffic concerns,” Smith said.
FedEx is now installing equipment inside the building and will likely run the sorting belts and machinery to check for bugs into next spring.
The company, which expects to create up to 1,500 new jobs when the hub runs at peak capacity, has not announced plans to recruit workers yet, McCluskey said.
When it does, however, local officials say they have no doubt that the company will remain strong enough to make good on its promises.
“They probably have one of the largest, if not the largest airline, as far as the number of planes are concerned, in the world,” said Henry Isaacson, chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority.
“And they are in as good a position to manage their company as any in the United States. So I don’t have any concerns about their future or their future at PTI.”
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.[email protected]
By Richard M. Barron
Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8 updated Wednesday, July 9, 5:28 am
FedEx construction at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx’s stock price has been dropping like a plane on final descent.
Because of the shaky economy and high fuel prices, the price has fallen from about $100 two months ago to about $75.
Late last month, FedEx announced its first quarterly loss in more than 10 years because of rising costs and dropping demand for shipping.
But the company’s East Coast hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport remains on track to open in 2009 and is not endangered by the company’s weaker financial reports, the company said.
“Everything is still on schedule,” said Jim McCluskey, a FedEx spokesman. “We’re very pleased with the project.”
The package-sorting building is essentially finished, with ongoing construction inside.
The $300 million hub is financed in part by $115 million in state tax exemptions and credits.
With rising oil prices, FedEx is passing much of its fuel costs on to customers with a surcharge for FedEx Express that rose to 32.5 percent Monday.
“From an investor’s perspective, (fuel) is not going to hurt profitability that much because they pass on the cost of fuel prices,” said Rich Smith, a contributing writer at The Motley Fool, an investors’ Web site.
“The downside to that, though, is that obviously when you raise prices on anything you’re going to decrease demand so people are going to look for alternatives.”
With company and state money already committed to seeing the PTI project through, FedEx’s continued reduction in capital budgets won’t have an impact.
And Smith said the company is likely to focus what spending it does on more fuel-efficient planes, which would only mean good news for hub operations overall.
McCluskey declined to speculate whether the bad economy and fuel crisis could force the hub to open next year with a reduced number of flights.
But if it serves Europe from PTI — as the company has said it might — FedEx could make more money from the hub, Smith said, because international shipments are the company’s fastest-growing segment.
“To the extent that they do Europe or South America, I think that would mitigate traffic concerns,” Smith said.
FedEx is now installing equipment inside the building and will likely run the sorting belts and machinery to check for bugs into next spring.
The company, which expects to create up to 1,500 new jobs when the hub runs at peak capacity, has not announced plans to recruit workers yet, McCluskey said.
When it does, however, local officials say they have no doubt that the company will remain strong enough to make good on its promises.
“They probably have one of the largest, if not the largest airline, as far as the number of planes are concerned, in the world,” said Henry Isaacson, chairman of the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority.
“And they are in as good a position to manage their company as any in the United States. So I don’t have any concerns about their future or their future at PTI.”
Contact Richard M. Barron at 373-7371 or richard.[email protected]
07-19-2008, 08:05 AM
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Incentive package approved for FedEx
07/18/2008 10:39 AM
By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff
The hub would create about 260 new jobs in the next six years.
GUILFORD COUNTY -- FedEx is one step closer to having two hubs in the Triad – one sending packages by air, the other by ground.
Thursday night, Guilford County Commissioners signed off on a $950,000 incentive package for the shipping company to put a Southeastern ground hub in Kernersville. The county will use property tax dollars from the site over a three-year period to pay for the deal.
The company won’t get the money unless it meets specific hiring and investment guidelines.
The hub would create about 260 new jobs in the next six years. FedEx officials say they’ll decide on a location in the next two months – they are also looking at locations in Tennessee and South Carolina.
07/18/2008 10:39 AM
By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff
The hub would create about 260 new jobs in the next six years. GUILFORD COUNTY -- FedEx is one step closer to having two hubs in the Triad – one sending packages by air, the other by ground.
Thursday night, Guilford County Commissioners signed off on a $950,000 incentive package for the shipping company to put a Southeastern ground hub in Kernersville. The county will use property tax dollars from the site over a three-year period to pay for the deal.
The company won’t get the money unless it meets specific hiring and investment guidelines.
The hub would create about 260 new jobs in the next six years. FedEx officials say they’ll decide on a location in the next two months – they are also looking at locations in Tennessee and South Carolina.
07-19-2008, 12:33 PM
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Originally Posted by MAGNUM!!
Nothing would make me happier than seeing a gazillion flights a day in and out of Greensboro in ten years time. I wouldn't relocate my fam to MEM, OAK, EWR, or IND, but I'd move to North Carolina in a heartbeat.
07-19-2008, 12:36 PM
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Originally Posted by DLax85
FedEx going full throttle for PTI hub
By Richard M. Barron
Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8 updated Wednesday, July 9, 5:28 am
FedEx construction at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
By Richard M. Barron
Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 8 updated Wednesday, July 9, 5:28 am
FedEx construction at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
Originally Posted by Alterbridge
PTI, as shown in the caption and the fourth sentence of the original article, stands for Piedmont Triad International Airport.
08-02-2008, 06:34 PM
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Cities compete for FedEx Ground hub
Cities compete for FedEx Ground hub : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina
By Gerald Witt
Staff Writer
Saturday, August 2 updated 3:35 am
GREENSBORO - Incentives aren't the only deal maker in whether FedEx Ground would locate a package hub here, according to a company spokesman.
"It's a contributing factor, but it is not the lone factor," David Westridge, a FedEx spokesman, said Friday as it became clear who else is competing against Guilford County for the $100 million Southeast facility.
Greenville, S.C., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., are in the running for the hub, which is expected to generate up to 259 new jobs.
The $952,500 incentive package from Guilford County is the smallest offered of the three, said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance.
He said that a $2.5 million, 10-year incentive package came from Murfreesboro, a town 35 miles southeast of Nashville.
"I don't know what's coming out of South Carolina, but the state is being rather aggressive," Lynch said.
Lynch and Westridge agreed that the money a government offers a company is down on the list of what influences a decision.
"Most important among the criteria is access to highways," Westridge said, listing other factors. "And we want to be in an area with enough population to provide staff, and we want to be in close proximity to local customers."
All three regions are laced with interstates.
Murfreesboro sits on Interstate 24, about 40 minutes from Interstate 40.
Greenville is along Interstate 85.
And I-40 and I-85 connect in the Triad, along with the new I-73.
In Guilford County, FedEx Ground is considering a site along the western edge of the county.
Economic developers in Greenville and Murfreesboro didn't return phone calls Friday to discuss their incentive packages.
In the game of economic development, that's the nature of deal making, Lynch said. "It's like playing poker," he said, adding that an out-of-town reporter recently called to ask what might be done to sweeten the pot for FedEx. "You don't share anything," Lynch said. "These negotiations are pretty much confidential."
The FedEx Ground hub would be unrelated to the $300 million sorting facility hub FedEx is scheduled to open next year at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx Ground expects to pick a site for its hub this fall.
Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or [email protected]
Cities compete for FedEx Ground hub : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina
By Gerald Witt
Staff Writer
Saturday, August 2 updated 3:35 am
GREENSBORO - Incentives aren't the only deal maker in whether FedEx Ground would locate a package hub here, according to a company spokesman.
"It's a contributing factor, but it is not the lone factor," David Westridge, a FedEx spokesman, said Friday as it became clear who else is competing against Guilford County for the $100 million Southeast facility.
Greenville, S.C., and Murfreesboro, Tenn., are in the running for the hub, which is expected to generate up to 259 new jobs.
The $952,500 incentive package from Guilford County is the smallest offered of the three, said Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance.
He said that a $2.5 million, 10-year incentive package came from Murfreesboro, a town 35 miles southeast of Nashville.
"I don't know what's coming out of South Carolina, but the state is being rather aggressive," Lynch said.
Lynch and Westridge agreed that the money a government offers a company is down on the list of what influences a decision.
"Most important among the criteria is access to highways," Westridge said, listing other factors. "And we want to be in an area with enough population to provide staff, and we want to be in close proximity to local customers."
All three regions are laced with interstates.
Murfreesboro sits on Interstate 24, about 40 minutes from Interstate 40.
Greenville is along Interstate 85.
And I-40 and I-85 connect in the Triad, along with the new I-73.
In Guilford County, FedEx Ground is considering a site along the western edge of the county.
Economic developers in Greenville and Murfreesboro didn't return phone calls Friday to discuss their incentive packages.
In the game of economic development, that's the nature of deal making, Lynch said. "It's like playing poker," he said, adding that an out-of-town reporter recently called to ask what might be done to sweeten the pot for FedEx. "You don't share anything," Lynch said. "These negotiations are pretty much confidential."
The FedEx Ground hub would be unrelated to the $300 million sorting facility hub FedEx is scheduled to open next year at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx Ground expects to pick a site for its hub this fall.
Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or [email protected]
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