Published: October 01, 2008 09:53 pm         

Reel Time Logistics opens new facility

New office, warehouse built on Hunt Road

TERRE HAUTE — Despite the turmoil on Wall Street, another company is expanding in Terre Haute.

Reel Time Logistics, a third-party logistics provider with headquarters in Terre Haute, officially opened a new, 40,000-square-foot facility Wednesday on Hunt Road, west of Terre Haute International Airport-Hulman Field.

“The economy is bad,” said Mayor Duke Bennett at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, but “I really believe this will be a spur” for additional economic growth, he said. There are currently several economic investment projects taking place around the airport, Bennett said.

Founded 41⁄2 years ago in Terre Haute, Reel Time Logistics provides freight, warehousing, packaging, light manufacturing and other logistical services, said Kent Lawson, a founder and co-owner of the company. Reel Time Logistics currently employs around 50 people, most of whom are full-time truck drivers, he said.

The new office and warehouse facility on Hunt Road, built by Thompson Thrift, may require expansion if the company continues to grow, Bennett told a small gathering of local business, government and economic development leaders at the company’s grand opening. “They may be adding on before we know it,” he said.

Reel Time Logistics presently does business with companies such as Dicks Sporting Goods, Clabber Girl, Great Dane Trailers, Scott Pet Products, Home Direct and Cummins-Consolidated Diesel Co., said Ryan Turner, president of Reel Time Logistics.

“Growth is a real possibility” in the not-too-distant future, Lawson said, adding that the company expects to capitalize on its nearness to Hulman Field. The Reel Time Logistics facility sits on 30 acres of property, he noted. “We’ve got some room to expand.”

Reel Time Logistics is a partner of Indiana State University’s College of Technology, Ivy Tech and the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, said John Turner, a vice president with the company. The city of Terre Haute also has been very helpful, he said.

If new jobs are created at Reel Time Logistics, they likely will be in general warehouse, light manufacturing, packaging and quality sorting, Lawson said.

For more information, see the company’s Web site, www.reeltimelogistics.com.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.