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Nike breaks ground on Memphis distribution center

July 19, 2007 — Nike Inc. broke ground July 12 on a $107 million distribution center in north Memphis. The center will consolidate operations now housed at Nike's Winchester Road facility in Memphis and in Wilsonville, Oregon.

Nike purchased 125 acres at Belz Enterprises' Northridge Industrial Park for the facility. The project will mean 244 new jobs with a median wage, including benefits, of $44,500. Nike's total Memphis employment will reach 1,500 with the expansion.

The project will make Memphis the No. 2 Nike city in the U.S. after the company's home base in Beaverton, Oregon. Nike officials said the new distribution center could save the company $200 million over 20 years.

Nike has 250 full-time employees at the Winchester Road facility. Nearly all are expected to make the move to the new center, and some Oregon employees will also move.

Memphis Light, Gas & Water, the State of Tennessee, the Memphis Regional Chamber of Commerce, local officials, and TVA all played a part in making the Nike expansion a reality.