Construction crews are completing the groundwork on 46 acres in KeyStone West Business Park off of Rogers Road where W.W. Grainger Inc.’s 820,000-square-foot warehouse is scheduled to open in mid- to late 2011. Nearly half of the walls and columns on the southern and eastern side of the structure have been erected, and concrete work is slated to begin in October, said Hector Vega, director of the distribution center.
Once the roof is on the building and sealed by the year’s end, Vega projected that electrical and plumbing work on the more than $50 million warehouse will be ready to start in early January.
“As long as rain doesn’t hold us up too much, I don’t foresee any problems with opening on time,” he said.
Running a gigantic warehouse will require plenty of manpower — in the form of 150 to 200 full- and part-time jobs.
Positions will range from warehouse jobs to clerical and managerial positions, but when it comes to hiring, every applicant will need similar qualities, he said.
“It would be a thrill for us to start hiring people from Patterson first, but ultimately it will come down to if the person is qualified and has a positive attitude,” Vega said. “The right applicant will be someone with a desire to come in every day and work, while being proud of what they are doing and where they are.”
Most of the company’s jobs will not officially be created until the end of the year, but that hasn’t stopped some Patterson residents, such as Kelley Salomon, from getting a jump on applying. Salomon has signed up for job alerts and submitted her resume through the Grainger website.
“I wanted to be ready when they start posting jobs,” said Salomon, who commutes to work as an administrative assistant at PMZ Realty in Modesto. “To be closer to my kids during the day and to save on gas would be a huge benefit.”
As an industrial supply company, Grainger distributes more than 350,000 products, including heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, hand and power tools, electrical and safety supplies, office materials to 1.8 million companies in 153 countries.
When the distribution center opens, it will be the largest of the company’s three centers in California, set to shoot past a 110,000-square-foot distribution center in San Jose and a smaller center in Southern California, Vega said.
Grainger’s facility will stand near the CVS and Kohl’s distribution centers in the Keystone Pacific Business Park just east of KeyStone West. Grainger’s center will be slightly larger than the 800,000 square feet used by CVS, though CVS employs more than 500 people. Kohl’s, at 675,000 square feet, has staff numbers close to what Grainger projects, according to city officials.
To submit an application to Grainger: Visit the company’s website at www.grainger.com/
• Contact Kendall Wright at 892-6187 or kendall@pattersonirrigator.com.
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