Hardware company to employ 75 at CenterPoint

Ace Hardware Corp. will become the first tenant at the new CenterPoint Intermodal Center, investing more than $14 million on a new facility that will create 75 new jobs during the next three years, officials announced on Wednesday.

The company is building a 336,000-square-foot East Coast redistribution center in the CenterPoint industrial community, which is being developed along Holland Road, near its intersection with Kenyon Road.

“This is tremendous validation for the City of Suffolk and the entire Hampton Roads region as a center of international trade,” Gov. Bob McDonnell stated in a press release announcing the new facility. “I am extremely pleased that Ace Hardware Corp. has recognized the world-class capabilities of Virginia’s premier transportation system that includes the Port of Virginia, one of the largest intermodal networks on the East Coast.

The new facility will service the company’s regional distribution centers, including one in Prince George County that employs 275 people, according to the release.

“We’re confident that the Ace Hardware Import Re-Distribution Center in Suffolk will allow us to more efficiently ship goods to our East Coast retailers — and ensure that they will be able to continue providing superior service to their customers,” Tim Duvall, supply chain director for Ace, stated in the release.

The company, founded in 1924 by a small group of hardware store owners, is headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., the same town where CenterPoint has its main office. Ace has more than 4,500 independently owned stores across the nation.

“Ace Hardware’s decision to locate their newest import center in Suffolk is a testament to the welcoming business climate we have cultivated in our city,” Suffolk Mayor Linda T. Johnson stated in the release. “We are proud to welcome Ace Hardware to our business community, and we look forward to supporting them as they grow in Suffolk.”

With the help of a $100,000 grant from the Governor’s Opportunity Fund, the city was able to work with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Hampton Roads Economic Development Authority to entice Ace to the new CenterPoint site.