Governor Hails $43 Million Investment at Groundbreaking Ceremony

Front Royal - Governor George Allen today announced that Family Dollar Stores, Inc. will build a $43 million distribution center in Warren County, creating approximately 425 new jobs for the Shenandoah Valley. The 915,000 square foot facility will be located in the Cedarville Enterprise Zone and is expected to be completed by the end of 1997. Virginia successfully competed with Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia for the investment.

"I am pleased to welcome these new jobs and this great facility to Virginia. Family Dollar's new distribution center will benefit from our pro-business tax policies, right-to-work laws and Virginia's strategic business location on the mid-Atlantic seaboard," said Governor Allen. "Our superior Inland Port, linked to the Port of Hampton Roads, serves as an effective means to ship and receive goods from around the world. And our new trucking and tax reform legislation will make Virginia an even more desirable place to do business for distribution firms such as Family Dollar."

Founded in 1959, Family Dollar is headquartered in Matthews, North Carolina. The company operates over 2,600 stores in a 38-state area ranging as far northwest as South Dakota, northeast to Maine, southeast to Florida and southwest to New Mexico. The company expects to add 185 stores to the chain this fiscal year. Family Dollar has been a publicly-held corporation since 1970. The new Warren County facility will serve as a base to distribute merchandise to more than 1,000 Family Dollar stores.

"Warren County, Virginia is an ideal location for our distribution facility," said Leon Levine, chairman and chief executive officer of Family Dollar. "The area boasts outstanding access to major interstate highways which will be utilized to speed deliveries of merchandise to our stores. Most importantly, all of us who have had the opportunity to work with Governor Allen, as well as State, county and local officials have been impressed with their commitment to economic development and growth."

Governor Allen approved a $200,000 Opportunity Fund grant for Warren County to assist the project. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership and the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority assisted the company with its decision.

# # #

Press Contact(s)

Jill Vaughan
VEDP
(804) 371-0049