Shipping isn't, let's face it, a particularly rivetting subject. Parcels and waybills and tracking numbers are hardly the stuff entrepreneurs' dreams are made of. They are, however, necessary in every business: shipping is one of those mundane but utterly essential services companies need in order to function effectively.
Responding to that need is FedEx, which officially opened a new 89,000-square-foot facility in Markham earlier this month. Markham—itself getting used to its new role as a city, having just graduated from being a town—is now home to nearly 900 high-tech companies and 400 other company headquarters.
Its needs, in short, are growing.
"It's not by any mistake that we found ourselves in Markham," says Jason Anderson, a spokesperson for FedEx. "A lot of business [in the GTA], we're finding. is coming directly out of the Markham area." That business will be served by 150 staff working at the new site, which has been in development for 18 months and is built to accommodate further growth in the coming years.
While it's not yet clear just what kinds of companies will be most contributing to that growth, it is certainly the case that when shipping companies get busier, it's a sign of economic health. As Anderson puts it: "FedEx is a good economic bellwether."
Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Jason Anderson, Media Relations, FedEx Express Canada