Caterpillar to open big distribution center on West Plains

A division of Caterpillar Inc. will open a new parts distribution center on the West Plains that will employ 100 to 150, the company announced this morning. The more than 500,000-square-foot facility will replace a smaller operation, Caterpillar said in a news release. The distribution center will be operated by Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc., a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., the big equipment manufacturer based in Illinois. Construction is expected to begin this summer and the new center will open in 2012, the news release said. Rich Hadley, president and CEO of Greater Spokane Inc., the region’s chamber of commerce, said Caterpillar Logistics came to the organization earlier this year for help with site selection and to inquire about incentives. “Having competed with several other communities for the distribution center, Greater Spokane Incorporated is proud of the intensive, collaborative efforts” of state, county and city governments, as well as utilities and private property owners, Hadley said in a prepared statement. The state offered workforce incentives worth $235,000 to help lure the company to Washington, the governor’s office said today.