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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Korea-Based GLOVIS America Opens Shreveport, Louisiana Distribution Center

01/04/2017
GLOVIS America, subsidiary of Hyundai Glovis Co. Ltd., a Korea-based company engaged in integrated logistics and distribution businesses, will open a new inland distribution center, for imported vehicles, in Shreveport, Louisiana. The facility will be located at the former General Motors plant.

At the distribution center, employees will outfit imported vehicles with equipment and exterior upgrades, as requested by local dealers. Glovis America is a third-party, finished-vehicle logistics company for Kia Motor America and Hyundai Motor America, and a subsidiary of Hyundai GLOVIS Co., which is part of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group.

Glovis will make a $1 million capital investment and create 150 new direct jobs. The new distribution center will operate in a 125,000-square-foot facility and more than 90 adjoining acres at the former GM site in Shreveport, where Industrial Realty Group is actively recruiting tenants for Caddo Parish’s Industrial Development Board, the site owner.

The first vehicles arrived in Shreveport by rail on Tuesday, with future shipments to arrive from South Korea and potentially from sites in the U.S. The company highlighted the ability to expand on-site as a key factor in selecting Shreveport, with additional phases planned for the future, state officials explained.

According to state officials, the investment is the latest at the former GM plant in Shreveport, which the State of Louisiana and the North Louisiana Economic Partnership, or NLEP, have marketed extensively since GM’s departure in 2012. In addition to site selection assistance, the State of Louisiana is offering use of its Enterprise Zone Program to Glovis.

At the new inland distribution center, Glovis receives new finished vehicles built at Kia’s factory in Monterrey, Mexico. At the Shreveport center, Glovis America will provide added options and packages to the vehicles prior to delivery to dealerships.

“Glovis America’s announcement today signifies a new chapter in revitalizing the former GM plant and returning great jobs to Shreveport and the surrounding region,” Governor John Bel Edwards said. “We congratulate Glovis on this exciting announcement. Upon the launch of operations, I know Glovis will find an abundance of highly skilled talent and an unrivaled infrastructure to receive and ship vehicles. We also want to thank our partners at the North Louisiana Economic Partnership for their role in attracting this project win to our state.”

“We are very excited to be opening a state-of-the-art vehicle logistics and processing center in Shreveport, Louisiana,” said President Glenn Clift of Glovis America. “Shreveport has been chosen after a long search and due diligence process to replace Glovis’ long-term facility in Texas. A combination of existing infrastructure, strong labor force and competitive inbound-outbound rail and outbound trucking costs allowed Shreveport to beat the competition. We anticipate this facility will have a rapid ramp-up over the next few months and will handle over 75,000 new vehicles annually.”

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