UPS to build new, expanded distribution center in Salt Lake City


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SALT LAKE CITY — Construction has begun on a new UPS distribution facility that the company says will provide Utah with an estimated 1,500 jobs.

Set to be the crown jewel in the UPS system, the new facility is being built at 380 S. 6400 West. It will measure 840,000 square feet and will be capable of processing 69,000 packages an hour, according to a written statement from the company.

Carolee Streeper, the UPS human resources manager in Salt Lake City, said the building will be “fully automated and will have very high conveyors and tilt trays.” Despite the extensive automation, “we’re going to be adding about 1,500 jobs,” she said.

There’s also a ripple effect with an announcement like this. As Utah looks to attract other companies to locate here, the new UPS center can help seal those deals.

“As we are out selling, we are able to use the name UPS,” said Val Hale, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development. “We are able to use the name UPS and say ‘Look, they made a $250 million investment. They did their due diligence and they chose us.’”

Hale said “having businesses like these really helps us in the long term, because we never know when the next downturn is going to come.”

Utah is in an interesting position right now in terms of available jobs. The unemployment rate is 3.1 percent. That’s good, but there are still plenty of job vacancies the state is looking to fill.

In his recent State of the State address, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced a new goal to seek qualified workers to fill 40,000 jobs in the next four years.

Photo: KSL TV
Photo: KSL TV

Hale said the strategy in place is to “get people who are maybe underemployed, trained to take some of these higher skilled jobs. If we can do that, it’ll make a huge impact on our economy and tax base.”

That’s the model UPS uses. It has a large “promotion from within” philosophy, so those who start at the lowest positions and pay levels have good opportunities to move up the ladder. UPS also offers tuition assistance "that’s a great benefit to our part-time employees,” Streeper said.

Currently, UPS has over 4,000 employees in Utah. Construction on this new facility should wrap up in 2018.

Contributing: Freeman Stevenson

Editor's note: This story has been updated at 10:30 a.m. Monday to correct the address given by UPS.

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