Two companies opening distribution centers, hiring more than 200 employees

The massive Logistics Park Kansas City distribution and warehouse development in Edgerton has attracted two new tenants — one from Iowa and one from California — that plan to hire more than 200 employees altogether.

Flexsteel Industries of Dubuque, Iowa, a furniture manufacturer, will add 141 jobs at a 500,000-square-foot building it recently bought at Logistics Park. The building will be used to distribute furniture nationwide.

In addition, Kubota Tractor Corp. of Torrance, Calif., announced it will open a nearly 450,000-square-foot parts distribution center that it is leasing in the third quarter next year. It will employ about 75 workers by the end of its first year in operation.

The distribution center will serve the Midwest, the machinery and equipment company said Friday. No other details were available on its expansion plan.

Logistics Park is a 1,500-acre distribution and warehouse development in south Johnson County that is anchored by the BNSF Railway’s intermodal freight facility. Flexsteel and Kubota are the fourth and fifth major distribution businesses to open in the complex, which is being developed by NorthPoint Development of Riverside.

Flexsteel will make a $35 million investment in its 26-acre property, according to the Kansas City Area Development Council. The firm’s annual payroll will be about $4.5 million, the council said.

Flexsteel will receive $120,000 in job-creating incentives, said Matt Keith, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Commerce.

Flexsteel executives could not be reached for comment.

By locating in Logistics Park, Flexsteel “will enjoy significant transportation savings and be able to more efficiently deliver its furniture products,” said Patrick Robinson, vice president of NorthPoint.

Flexsteel, which started in 1929, designs, manufactures, imports and markets upholstered and wood furniture for the residential, recreational vehicle, office, hospitality and health care markets.

Kubota said it was attracted to Logistics Park because of its central location in the United States. “This new distribution center will enable us to manage our stream of parts more effectively and improve parts delivery time, including an expanded geographical area to which we can deliver parts within 24 hours,” Earl Johnson, Kubota’s parts director, said in a statement.

The company is the U.S. marketer and distributor of Kubota-brand tractors, construction equipment, consumer lawn and garden equipment and other products.

This story was originally published December 5, 2014 at 9:02 AM.