Marshall County progress • ASICS on way at Chickasaw Trail


Thursday, October 28, 2010
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Marshall County progress
• ASICS on way at Chickasaw Trail

By SUE WATSON
Staff Writer

Photo by Sue Watson

An informal hello

ASICS America officials and H&M Construction employees took a moment out of their busy morning last week to greet county officials in front of their warehouse at the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park. From left are Russell Neill, construction supervisor with H&M Construction Company; Jackie Rodriguez, ASICS, human resources; Kevin Wulff, chief operating officer with ASICS America; Gary Jordan, ASICS America Corporation; Keith Taylor, District 3 supervisor; and Bill Mobley, IDA executive director.

A new 512,000-square-foot warehouse, expected to open next summer, is near completion in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

It will be the warehouse and distribution center for ASICS, an athletic footwear, apparel and accessories manufacturing company that introduced its products in the United States in 1977.

District 3 supervisor Keith Taylor and Bill Mobley, executive director of the Marshall County Industrial Authority, paid a site visit to the new facility last week and were greeted by ASICS officials as well as the construction supervisor.

Gary Jordan with ASICS America Corporation said the warehouse is set for a “soft go live” June 1, 2011. A “hard go live” or opening date when the warehouse will be fully operational is set for August 1, 2011, he said.

Photo by Sue Watson

Mt. Carmel Road

Work continues on Mt. Carmel Road, which will create three-lane access to the ASICS facility in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

The new ASICS warehouse is located across the street from Exel Corporation’s warehouse and distribution center at Mt. Carmel and Wingo roads.

Mobley said the expansion of Mt. Carmel Road into a three-lane was made possible by the decision of ASICS to come to the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park.

“We were able to get state and federal funding for the three-laning of Mt. Carmel Road from Highway 302 to Wingo Road because of ASICS,” he said.

Some other important developments that will make the park more attractive to industry is how the transportation sector will create a nexus at the park.

To the west of ASICS, its boundary line abuts the new I-269 that will run through the park, Mobley said. An interchange at Highway 302 and I-269 will be built so traffic can exit off I-269. Mt. Carmel Road will eventually connect to the interchange when I-269 is built.

ASICS was founded in 1949 in the living room of Kihachiro Onitsuka in Kobe, Japan, where he began manufacturing basketball shoes.

He chose the name ASICS for his company the same year he introduced his athletic footwear and other products into the United States. The ASICS registered trademark is based on the Latin phrase “Anima Sana In Corpore Sano,” which when translated into English means “a sound mind in a sound body.”

Quality Drive

A number of other large and small manufacturing or service companies have located in the Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park, including Mid-South Ag located on Highway 302.

A small commercial/industrial area is located on Quality Drive where small manufacturing and commercial companies are centrally located near where current large industrial sites are built and where new ones will locate.

Some of the businesses in the park on Quality Drive include American Forklift; RBR which manufactures agricultural sprayers for Mid-South Ag; Soule Furniture Restoration; C&C Landscaping; European Stone Works, specializing in design and manufacture of exterior architectural elements for buildings and landscapes; Don Willis Construction Company office; and CRDN, a certified restoration drycleaning network service company.

Mobley said the undeveloped properties on Quality Drive offer two- to 50-acre sites for small commercial/industrial companies.

Mobley said building codes and covenants at the park are strict, which makes the conditions ideal for large industrial companies.

For information on the codes and covenants, visit the county’s website, www.marshallcoms.com, click on Chickasaw Trail Industrial Park, then click on covenants in the second green box to the right of the screen.

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