Dick's Sporting Goods started construction Tuesday on its first distribution center in Texas. The center, near Interstate 35W and Risinger Road in South Fort Worth, will be the company's sixth overall.
"What really popped in Fort Worth, what made Fort Worth rise to the surface for us is the very business-friendly community and discussions we had with local leaders," Senior Vice President Sean Whitehouse said.
Dick's Sporting Goods launched in Binghamton, New York in 1948 and is headquartered near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company has been expanding and has seen a growing market in Texas.
"All of it comes together because this facility is not just going to serve Texas, it's going to serve surrounding states as well," Whitehouse said.
The same area south of I-20 has an Amazon logistics hub. A distribution center for Continental Tire is under construction in the same area as well. Hillwood is leading construction for both Continental Tire and Dick's Sporting Goods.
"We've only got a couple hundred thousand square feet of space left here," Hillwood and Perot Group Chairman Ross Perot Jr. said. "We've got one more pad next to Amazon, but between Amazon, Dick's, and Continental Tire, this project's pretty well done."
Perot also cites relationships between the public and private sectors in Fort Worth to help fuel growth. He said the city can also give companies fast connections to other parts of the country, Canada and Mexico by road, rail, and air.
"You've got every form of transportation here, and we're still a very affordable part of the country," he said.
Perot said both distribution centers could be finished in about a year.
Dick's expects the distribution center to create 300 full-time jobs. When breaking ground Tuesday morning, the company also donated $25,000 to the Boys and Girls Club of Tarrant County.
"Partnership's a two-way street," Whitehouse said. "We want to say, 'What do you need from us? What does Dick's Sporting Goods need to do in this community to support you?'"
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