The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development (CTED) has recently made a $500,000 State Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) award to the city of Moxee for construction of 8,000 linear feet of 12-inch water main improvements to provide water service and fire protection to a proposed 800,000 square foot Ace Hardware Distribution Center. The CDBG award was instrumental in keeping the distribution center and the jobs within the Yakima Valley area.
Ace Hardware estimates that construction and stocking of this new 800,000 square foot Distribution Center will cost approximately $90 million dollars. The new distribution center will serve about 400 Ace retailers throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
The facility will feature the latest in warehousing and distribution technology, contain 90 dock doors and $40 million in inventory. It will replace the existing 506,500 sq. ft. distribution center in Yakima, just 10 miles from Moxee, which has been operating beyond capacity. Ace Hardware is also planning a future expansion of this Distribution Center by an additional 400,000 square feet.
Ace Hardware is anticipating hiring an additional 48 employees over the next three-year period, with an estimated annual payroll of $1.4 million dollars.
Since the state began operating the CDBG program in 1982, more than $312 million has been distributed to cities, towns and counties for over 1,000 community development projects. These projects benefit primarily low- and moderate-income people in the more rural areas of Washington State.
The Washington State CDBG Program supports local leadership and grassroots efforts to responsibly address the wide range of prioritized needs of lower income communities by providing gap funding to rural communities that have limited access to resources.
CDBG grants help finance the construction of water, sewer, streets and other local infrastructure; community facilities such as health centers and childcare centers; housing rehabilitation projects for low-income households; loans and technical assistance to local micro-enterprises; public service grants; and the development of plans and studies aimed at enhancing the success of future projects.
Funding for the selected projects comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is administered by CTED.
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