Spokane business Kenworth Sales Company is making plans to move out to the West Plains, going so far as to build a new warehouse from the ground up to house their operations, which will eventually provide jobs for about 150 employees.
Kenworth is a manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty Class 8 trucks with locations all over the Midwest and West Coast. The Spokane location has simply outgrown their current place on Broadway in Spokane Valley, district manager Rick Petersen said.
The new building on the West Plains, which will take about a year to complete, has been in the works for more than six months and is located on West Electric Avenue. The space will employ several different types of workers, from certified technicians and parts personnel to salespeople and leasing staff.
But even though the company has announced their intention to relocate, don’t expect to see moving vans any time soon. The building must be completed and a lot of administrative work still needs to be done before they can move in permanently.
“It’ll probably be a year and a half to two years before we’re honestly in,” Peterson said.
Growth in the West Plains has been a hot topic since the announcement that Amazon is building a fulfillment center in the area. While Amazon could certainly be a Kenworth customer, “we actually were looking at the location before Amazon went in,” Petersen said.
Land prices in the West Plains plus the proximity to some of the company’s current clients made the move a no-brainer.
“We have customers out that way,” Petersen said. “It’ll be more beneficial for us to be out there.”
Shannen Talbot can be reached at shannn@cheneyfreepress.com.
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