Kirkwood FedEx facility is now open, no layoffs to Conklin site

KIRKWOOD (WBNG) - The state-of-the-art automated FedEx distribution center in Kirkwood officially opened its doors on Oct. 14.

Officially open for a week, Managing Director of Operations for the Upstate Director New York District at FedEx Ground Brian Becker was able to reflect on this site serving the community and beyond.

“This is the first automated facility that we’ve put in this area,” said Becker. “It [has] really high-speed conveyors, camera tunnels, laser beams, all kinds of cool stuff that go into these operations to maximize safety and efficiency.”

Becker said it’s desirable because of its proximity to major interstates.

“Kirkwood specifically serves a nice logistical need for us based on some infrastructure and really allows us a nice gateway where it’s positioned in the highway systems that we have access to there to get us to the south, to get up through Albany and a gateway into New England, also up into Syracuse, as well as west down [Route] 17 and [Interstate] 86 there,” Becker said.

When it comes to other existing sites, don’t expect this to interfere with the Conklin operations or lead to layoffs.

“We’re moving some of that just as an adjustment to the market,” said Becker. “We’ll move some of what was being handled out of the current facility in Conklin. We’ll move over to the new Kirkwood facility. But no layoffs.”

Becker said there is usually a strategy with FedEx to open new facilities between the months of August and October, which means this one was right on time.

He said the distribution center was well received by the community.