Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • April 29, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 15 MEET & CELEBRATE MEET & CELEBRATE THE ELITE C-LEVEL EXECUTIVES! For questions about this event please contact Lauren Stroud at 860-236-9998, ext. 137 or email lstroud@hartfordbusiness.com For questions about this event please contact Lauren Stroud at REGISTER TODAY! WWW.HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/OUREVENTS GO TO C-SUITE AWARDS TO REGISTER JOIN US | JUNE 5TH | 11AM-1:30PM HARTFORD MARRIOTT EVENT PARTNERS: PRESENTED BY: EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP SPONSOR: PRESENTING SPONSOR: EVENT SPONSOR: national Airport in New York. "I think as cargo continues to grow throughout the entire Northeast region, we represent an opportunity for cargo companies to relocate operations to (Bradley)," just as Pinnacle did, Dillon said. Logistics jobs The four-town Bradley Airport Devel- opment Zone is also in a unique posi- tion to become a key locus of ground freight in the Northeast, said Joe Scul- ley, president of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut (MTAC), which represents companies in the state's trucking industry. In addition to its proximity to the airport, its unique geographic position puts it nearby major highways, making the area a great hub for trucking, which moves 94 percent of all freight in Connecticut. The advent of companies like Ama- zon and others placing warehouses to meet demands for next-day or even same-day delivery is also adjusting truckers' jobs, Sculley said. Thirty or 40 years ago, almost all trucking consisted of long-haul, cross-country routes. Now, more routes are closer to the end customer or final destination, re- quiring truckers to fulfill that critical "last-mile" haul. "Now because of e-commerce and the way retailers are set up, it's become more localized, or regionalized, so the trucking routes are shorter," Sculley said. "If you can tell [drivers] that they can be home at night, that's a big plus." Tim Lescalleet, senior vice president of Griffin Industrial Realty Inc. in Wind- sor, a prominent commercial landlord and developer in the area, said the trend of companies opening warehous- es in the Bradley development zone has been going on for a while. A driving force in locating there is the ability to serve all of New England, as well as upstate New York and argu- ably parts of northern Pennsylvania, Lescalleet said. "I think there's still room for growth … . Older New England (companies) are in the process of changing their distribution patterns, which typically involves consolidation of multiple facilities," Lescalleet said. "From the other end, you've got a need for the last mile component around metro- politan areas, which is driving demand for smaller distribution spaces." Jobs in the freight industry have also grown around Bradley in the past decade, said Windsor Economic Devel- opment Director Jim Burke. He said just over 700 town residents worked in the transportation and warehousing industry in 2007. That shot up five-fold to more than 3,500 a decade later. "Freight going through (Bradley) keeps increasing, and so will the ware- housing and storage right there," Burke said. "That's going to mean more jobs for people in those towns." Amazon's 1.2 million-square-foot Windsor fulfillment center employs nearly 1,500 full-time workers, Ama- zon spokesperson Rachael Lighty said. Employees earn between $15 and $19.20 per hour, plus benefits, like health, dental and continuing-educa- tion incentives, she said. In addition to e-commerce, Dil- lon says Connecticut's proximity to a number of manufacturers presents another growth opportunity. Manufacturers in the Northeast should look to Bradley, Dillon said, since they can truck their freight to the airport and ship it domestically and internationally. "We are geographically blessed to be in the heart of New England with a good highway transportation system to bring cargo into Bradley, and then to truck it throughout the entire re- gion," Dillon said. UPS started shipping out of Bradley Airport in 1987 and moved from an airplane hangar to its current UPS Bradley Air Hub facility in 1997. It sees growth opportunities at its current location. PHOTO | HBJ FILE PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

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