DeKALB – Big-box retailer Target Corp. plans to hire about 450 people in April and May to fill new jobs at its distribution center in DeKalb, the company said in a news release Monday.
The company announced in January plans to turn its Macom Drive facility into an upstream distribution center, which means adding new equipment and product lines to get products to customers faster.
Target has more than 1,800 stores in the U.S. and once the expansion of the DeKalb facility is complete, the center will distribute products to one-third of those stores. The change represents about $50 million added investment in the area, company officials said.
“We look forward to serving stores across the Midwest from our expanded upstream distribution center,” Carson Landsgard, Target’s senior vice president of distribution, said in a news release. “This expansion is a great investment in the local community and in Target’s work to create an enhanced shopping experience for guests.”
The new jobs primarily are in equipment operations, packaging and shipping, according to the release. Target has 79 stores in northeast Illinois and a Target.com fulfillment center located in Edwardsville.
The DeKalb City Council committed $2.8 million in tax breaks, grants and fee waivers in 2004 to help secure the 1.5 million-square-foot facility for DeKalb; all eight taxing bodies whose boundaries include Park 88 also signed on to property tax abatements for the company.
The state, city and other local tax abatements, grants and fee waivers totaled $6.8 million. The distribution center opened in 2006.