GRETNA – Pittsylvania County officials and community leaders joined representatives from Tradesman Trucking to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new 22,500-squarefoot facility in the Gretna Industrial Park. A growing trucking and transit company that provides freight and other services, Tradesman Trucking is investing $4.5 million and creating 30 new jobs with this project.
“I am absolutely thrilled that Tradesman Trucking is investing to make Gretna their company headquarters, creating many great jobs in the process,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Vic Ingram. “The company’s leadership are legitimately excited to join the community, improve the area, and make the Town of Gretna and the entire County a better place. The Gretna Industrial Park will make a great home for this growing company, and I am excited for the continued positive economic momentum we are seeing across Pittsylvania County.”
This project is the first phase of a two-part, $6.5 million plan. Due to anticipated demand for warehouse space and the offered processing services, Tradesman Trucking is already discussing additional land purchase options to develop another 25,000 square-foot facility on adjoining property.
“Our primary goal in this relocation to Gretna is to enter as a member, serve as a neighbor, and co-labor to build and grow this community that we have already become so fond of,” said James Garner, Managing Partner of Tradesman Trucking. “When you choose a location for business, you are also choosing a community, and as such we believe that the community we are located in should both be supported by us and support us. We feel that the people of Gretna will make excellent neighbors as they are like-minded, hard-working folks.”
First founded in 2012 as a shuttle transit trucking company that helped Yankee Candle move product and goods between their facilities in Blairs and Forest, the company has grown over the past years to include freight services for a variety of major snack food retailers, print media, and household goods retailers. The company has also added local freight concentrating in the recycling markets for Cardboard and Plastics. Out of a growing need for the processing and transportation of recyclables, Tradesman Trucking also branched into Tradesman XDR, with concentrations on processing wood for biomass, crushing concrete and asphalt as aggregate replacement, and waste tires as alternatives to aggregate in select civil and sanitary applications. Tradesman Trucking is an employee-owned company. This facility will be multipurposed and multifaceted to serve the current needs of both Tradesman Trucking (as a traditional terminal and cross-dock facility), as well as Tradesman XDR as a recycling yard operation, offering office space and serving as the new headquarters for both businesses. The facility will also offer leased warehouse space, concentrating on dry goods for some of the trucking company's existing clients. With this new facility, Tradesman Trucking will become the first industrial tenant at the Gretna Industrial Park, a 125-acre park with robust utility services. Tradesman Trucking is participating in the State Enterprise Zone program but is not receiving any local discretionary incentives. After today’s groundbreaking, the company is expected to begin moving earth sometime in September, start constructing the building itself in the early Spring, and have the facility complete and operational in August of 2023.
“I am very excited that an innovative, expanding company like Tradesman Trucking has chosen to establish an operation right here in Pittsylvania County,” said CallandsGretna Supervisor Darrell Dalton. “It is always exciting when businesses decide that Pittsylvania County is a place where they want to invest, put down roots, and create jobs. Thanks to the investments that have gone into the Gretna Industrial Park from Pittsylvania County, the Town of Gretna, the Tobacco Commission, and many others, I am confident that Tradesman Trucking will be the first of many companies that make Gretna home.”
"We're just very excited and glad that Tradesman Trucking can be our first tenant of the industrial park," said Gretna Mayor Keith Motley. "We're looking forward to them joining our business community and we hope this is the start of further development."
“This is a great time to welcome Tradesman Trucking to the Gretna location and I thank them for expanding their footprint with more jobs for our region,” said Tobacco Commissioner and Delegate Les Adams. “I applaud the team that made this announcement possible and want them to know that I remain committed to supporting efforts that will encourage economic growth and prosperity in our Southside Virginia home.”
"The IDA is excited by the investment Tradesman Trucking is making in the Gretna Industrial Park and Pittsylvania County," said Dr. Joey Faucette, Chairman of the Industrial Development Authority. "We're particularly thrilled that we attracted a regional company with local investment to launch the development of this Industrial park. We anticipate a long, prosperous relationship with this company that is a vital ingredient in resolving current supply chain and logistics challenges."
