DC Velocity - October 2013

AS DELIVERY WINDOWS GET TIGHTER AND TRANSPORTAtion costs soar, it becomes increasingly important to maintain a distribution center or warehouse close to your customers. For this reason, more and more companies are finding it necessary to establish a distribution center in the densely populated Northeast.

For the past year, DC VELOCITY has been looking at logistics hubs or “clusters”—those cities or regions that attract both logistics service providers and the logistics operations of manufacturers, retailers, and distributors. The past two articles have focused on emerging logistics hubs, locations that are growing in importance but may not be as well known as, say, Memphis, Tenn.; California’s Inland Empire; or Columbus, Ohio. Identifying emerging logistics hubs for the Northeast region, however, is problematic. After all, the Northeast has been a center of logistics and trade for centuries.

Despite the long history, two areas in particular are showing significant growth in logistics-related development, and any company evaluating distribution and logistics facilities in the Northeast should consider them: Central New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.

CENTRAL NEW JERSEY

New Jersey suffers from a bit of an image problem. Known for high labor costs, red tape, and an unfavorable tax climate, New Jersey has a reputation for being unfriendly to business. CNBC’s 2013 list of the most business-friendly states, for example, ranked New Jersey an unimpressive 42nd.

But Tracye McDaniel, president and CEO of the nonprofit economic development corporation Choose New Jersey, argues that when you consider New Jersey, you have to think about the total value proposition, which includes its location, infrastructure, and people.

It’s hard to deny that Central New Jersey is, in McDaniel’s words, “perfectly located.” New Jersey is within a day’s drive of more than 130 million consumers with a total disposable income of $3 trillion.

The central part of the state also provides easy access to all the

Boasting prime locations near efficient transportation infrastructures, Central New Jersey and Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley were born to run distribution centers.