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Bishop Airport cuts ribbon Tuesday on new FedEx sorting facility

By Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal
November 2, 2009

FLINT—Bishop Airport will cut the ribbon on a new sorting facility for FedEx Express on Tuesday, marking a major step in development of a $30-million interrmodal facility there.

Guy Briggs, chairman of the Bishop Airport Authority; Ted Henry, chairman of the Genesee County Board of Commissioners; and  Flint Mayor Dayne Walling are among those scheduled to speak at Tuesday's ceremony, according to a news release from the airport.

Built at a cost of about $14 million, the FedEx building has more than 60,000 square feet and was the subject of a Flint Journal story in October.

FedEx is already operating at the airport and the shift to its new facility will not immediately result in new jobs, officials have said. Airport boosters hope the building will put company in a position to expand quickly here if it needs to.

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Bishop Airport ready to spark area's intermodal focus

By Ron Fonger | The Flint Journal
October 09, 2009

FLINT — When packages and heavy freight start pushing through the doors of a new warehouse designed for truck-and-aircraft cargo transfers at Bishop Airport later this month, there will be more at stake than whether the conveyor belt wheels are rolling smoothly.

That first freight represents a broader gamble to reposition the Flint area as a recognized hub for shipping and transferring goods by air, rail and road.

The FedEx Express warehouse, its parking and lighting are the most expensive piece of the airport’s new, $30-million intermodal facility.

Built at a cost of about $14 million, the new warehouse will house FedEx’s sorting and routing operation at Bishop, which is moving from the east side of the airport grounds to the west side of the complex.

Workers were outfitting offices and installing equipment inside the 64,000-square-foot building this week.

“It will provide a link to the intermodal facility we’re building at Buick City,” said Tim Herman, chief executive officer of the Genesee Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It positions this county for future growth.” 

At the airport, a new cargo ramp has already been built at a cost of about $5.5 million, the Airport Authority spent more than $8 million on land acquisition for the expansion, and another $2 million in improvements have been made to Bristol Road — all connected to the intermodal effort.

Although the FedEx operation won’t produce more than the 80 existing jobs at the airport initially, Herman said it gives the company the potential to ramp up operations far beyond the volume it processes in Flint now.

“It’s a state of the art facility,” built to handle 3,000 packages per hour, said Airport Director James Rice. “We think the economy is going to turn around, (and) if cargo continues to grow, we have a plan for phase two.”

Although Rice said trends show there’s still more room for growth in truck-to-aircraft and aircraft-to-truck shipping, the airport is kicking off its new intermodal operation in a down economy — with shipping at the airport down more than 41 percent compared to the same point last year.

But in the long term, cargo has grown dramatically at Bishop, rising from just 67,808 pounds of departing freight in 1987 to nearly 13 million pounds of freight shipped in 2008.

The airport benefits directly from cargo shipping through terminal rentals and landing fees. Rice said the airport also gains federal funds to make improvements at the airport based in part on cargo volume.

Like terminal expansions aimed at attracting more airlines and bringing new fliers to Flint in the past, the airport is betting on the potential for future business with its investment in shipping and transportation now. Transportation is also the focus of economic development officials, who are banking on it as a major new job supplier for Genesee County.

While Bishop has focused on trucks and aircraft, Chamber of Commerce officials have been pushing redevelopment plans for turning the former General Motors Buick City site into a truck-to-rail hub.

Herman said having both facilities operating together gives businesses a strong reason to consider investing here.

“It allows companies to ship goods quickly — get it from Buick City onto a truck, then right over to the airport to ship,” he said.

The Buick City development has been bogged down by environmental liability issues but work has continued, boosted recently by interest from soybean producers in using the site as a major transport center.

Rice said he’s ready for airport’s intermodal facility to get things started.

“A lot of times people look at the airport as a way to spur economic development,” he said. “We want to make sure we have the facilities to accommodate the needs of our community.

“I’ve always felt like we’re providing the facilities our community needs to make it grow.”

Bob Strom, general manager for Primary Freight Services in Chicago, said cargo shipping is down everywhere but will grow again as the economy expands.

“It’s just a matter of people getting back to work and having money to spend — I’m hoping (for improvement) by the second quarter of 2010,” said Strom, whose company arranges air and ocean freight shipping for clients.

Strom said the ability to transfer goods between air and truck will always be needed, and Rice said the airport’s emphasis on air-truck business goes beyond providing a more efficient home for FedEx.

The new cargo ramp can accommodate additional jets and a facility that once housed shipping company DHL is being marketed to add to the cargo mix.

There are also conceptual plans for a further expansion of the air-truck operations, Rice said.

FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey said the company doesn’t expect to add employees in Flint as it moves into its new facility but does expect to have better building to work from.

FedEx  has about 80 employees in Flint, including package handlers, drivers and mechanics.

“This does improve the efficiency and service capabilities we have (in Flint),” McCluskey said.

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