A national supply chain management company that opened its doors in Elizabethton in September is already looking to expand operations and create even more jobs for the area.
When Fidelitone opened in September, the warehouse and shipping operation had approximately 60 employees.
“We’re just under 150 employees now and we are looking to ramp up to about 200 to 250,” said Jon Priest, president of order fulfillment for Fidelitone. “We have a lot of openings right now. We have everything from supervisors and line employees to customer service and administrative positions.”
Fidelitone provides warehouse, order fulfillment and value-added product services for a variety of companies that operate mail order or online shopping businesses. The Fidelitone warehouse stores the merchandise for clients, and when an order comes in, Fidelitone employees collect, package and ship the products.
“This is as close as you get to manufacturing without manufacturing,” Priest said of operations at the Elizabethton facility. “These jobs are economic driving jobs. These jobs come to Elizabethton and they drive gas sales, they drive jobs at the grocery store because people are shopping there. These jobs drive other aspects of the economy.”
“There are stable jobs here that aren’t impacted by the local economy,” he added, citing the success of online stores as the driving force behind the company’s continued growth.
“We’ve got a lot of growth as an organization,” Priest said, adding that operations in Elizabethton are already growing.
Because of that growth, plans are already underway to expand operations and add more jobs to the workforce.
The first phase will be some basic site improvements, Priest said.
“We have a parking lot project that we are getting ready to start,” he said, adding the project will create nearly 100 additional parking spaces to accommodate the growing number of employees. “We can add about 100,000 square feet onto this building at the back of the property. That is Phase 2 of our plans.”
Fidelitone has locations all across the country, and Priest said the company likes to invest in the local communities.
“We own this building,” he said. “We are putting down roots in this community and we plan to be here for a long time.”
Priest said he likes to keep up with news in the communities where Fidelitone has facilities, and added he had been following local news stories here regarding the controversy surrounding Carter County Tomorrow, including local government officials questioning the efficacy of the economic development agency.
“Without Tom Anderson, we would not be in this building,” Priest said.
Fidelitone had outgrown its locations in Gray and Johnson City and was looking for somewhere to consolidate those operations in a single facility.
“We were actually looking at Charlotte (N.C.),” Priest said, adding Fidelitone already has an operation there that could have been expanded.
Priest said Fidelitone officials met with Anderson, who was the director of CCT at the time but has since resigned to take a position in Bristol, and he brought them on a tour of the site in Elizabethton.
“This building was perfect for us because of the size and because it had land,” Priest said. “Tom Anderson was good to us and made all the right introductions.”
Priest said Anderson and CCT assisted Fidelitone in navigating the state and local channels to get everything lined up for the purchase and move.
With all of the controversy surrounding CCT and whether or not it has been effective in recruiting jobs, Priest said he “felt compelled to say something” regarding how instrumental Anderson and CCT were in bringing Fidelitone and its jobs to Carter County.
On the job recruitment front, Priest said Fidelitone offers other programs besides supply chain management to help support other businesses in their local communities.
“In some of our other locations we offer manufacturing assistance and support,” he said.
What Fidelitone can provide, Priest said, is warehousing and staffing for manufacturing operations to help them manage their inventory and space.
“We manage that inventory for them, which is a unique service for manufacturing,” Priest said. “If this area were to land a manufacturing facility, I would be willing to talk to them and work with them to provide what services we can to help them.”
Priest said Fidelitone also offers commercial storage to local businesses that find they need additional storage space but may not be able to expand at their location to accommodate that need.
“It helps us to fill some vacant space but it also helps them to solve a problem,” he said.
Anyone interested in applying for a job with Fidelitone can apply online at www.fidelitone.com by clicking on the “Careers” button. Priest said interested parties can also apply in person at the Elizabethton facility — located at 100 Fidelitone Way, just off of Highway 91 in Stoney Creek across from the Elizabethton Airport. Priest said those applying in person should ask to speak with Joey Peck, the operations manager for the Elizabethton facility.