Logistics Plus to Expand Pennsylvania Headquarters
Twenty years after Jim Berlin launched Logistics Plus with three employees and a single purchase order from GE Transportation, the company has grown to more than 400 employees worldwide and has annual revenues of $135 million.
The Erie-based company is about to get bigger.
On July 13, Gov. Tom Wolf announced that Logistics Plus, which handles transportation and logistics around the world, will expand its headquarters in Erie’s Union Station, creating 44 new jobs.
Logistics Plus ranks No. 70 on the Transport Topics list of top freight brokerage firms.
CEO Berlin joked in a phone interview that “after 90 years, we are going to finally finish the train station.”
According to Wolf’s statement, the expanded facility will allow for the handling of all logistics for clients, from order intake to shipping and installation. Logistics Plus has committed to investing at least $1.2 million into the project, which will help retain 123 jobs statewide, in addition to the new jobs that should be created.
The company, which has 40 offices in 20 counties, received a funding proposal from the Department of Community and Economic Development for $88,000 in job-creation tax credits to be issued after the new jobs are created.
The company has also been encouraged to apply for a $2 million low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority, according to the governor’s office.
“It’s very gratifying to be able to create good-paying, fun and interesting jobs with a growing, cutting-edge global company right here in Erie, Pennsylvania,” Berlin said in a statement. “Keeping talented people in the Erie area is good for the community and for the local economy.”
The project was coordinated by the Governor’s Action Team, an economic development group that works with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania, with the assistance of Erie’s Department of Economic and Community Development.
