Pennsylvania company to build $11M expansion in Pulaski

The Patton Logistics Group will invest $11 million to expand its trucking, logistics and warehousing operation in the New River Valley Commerce Park in Pulaski County, creating 63 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Thursday.

The company will add 150,000 square feet to its 250,000-square-foot logistics center. The expansion will include a trucking operations and maintenance center that will provide the infrastructure to support a future investment in electric trucks, according to a news release.

Northam said in a statement, “The Patton Logistics Group has become a significant employer in Pulaski County and the New River Valley since they came to Virginia two years ago. The commonwealth’s extensive infrastructure networks, business-friendly environment and dependable and skilled workforce provide companies like Patton with the tools they need to succeed.”

The Patton Logistics Group is composed of three affiliate companies that employ more than 150 people in Virginia. Watsontown Trucking Co. is a family-owned-and-operated motor carrier founded in 1941 that operates a fleet of 450 trucks and 1,400 trailers. Patton Logistics LLC was organized in 2013 as an affiliated entity of Watsontown Trucking Co. to provide transportation brokerage and third-party logistics services. Formed in 2015, Patton Warehousing LLC currently manages 2.5 million square feet of warehouse space in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Virginia.

“Our major expansion into Pulaski County in 2020 was the result of our confidence in the people of Southwest Virginia to perform various supply chain solutions for our clients at a new logistics center,” Steve Patton, president of The Patton Logistics Group, said in a statement. “That confidence has only grown, and just four months into this endeavor, we have decided to expand.”

Virginia competed with Pennsylvania for the project. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Pulaski County, Virginia’s First Regional Industrial Facility Authority and Onward New River Valley to secure it Northam approved a $225,000 grant from the state’s Opportunity Fund to assist Pulaski County. Patton Logistics is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides state funding to companies creating new jobs in order to support employee recruitment and training activities.