Mayor Emanuel joined DHL for the opening of the company’s $10 million global gateway facility at O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday.
In an effort to grow it’s global air network, DHL selected Chicago’s northeast cargo campus, which is on track to be the largest cargo development built at a U.S. airport in more than a decade, according to the mayor’s office.
“DHL’s expansion in Chicago, which brings new economic activity and jobs to our city, is a direct result of our investments to make O’Hare a top global gateway for air cargo operations,” Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “The world’s leading companies like DHL are investing in Chicago because O’Hare provides the best connectivity to markets around the globe and has the capacity to keep growing for many years to come.”
The new DHL Express facility can process more than 4,500 pieces per hour, ranging from small parcels to palletized freight. The DHL facility is LEED-certified and is on track to be certified by the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) in early 2018. TAPA sets the global benchmarks for best practices in cargo security handling.
The 54,000-square-foot gateway will grow DHL’s presence and create 75 new jobs including import and export agents, training and office personnel. The gateway will expand DHL’s existing operations at O’Hare and features an on-site U.S. Customs operation that allows for faster processing. O’Hare is also home to DHL’s Global Forwarding facility, a 491,000-square-foot office and warehouse. It houses 500 employees and is the largest freestanding DHL global forwarding building in its worldwide network.
The new gateway facility joins DHL operations south of O’Hare International Airport, in Franklin Park, and another north of Midway International Airport, in McCook. The gateway is also connected to five DHL hubs based in London, UK; Leipzig, Germany; Shanghai, China; Incheon, South Korea; and Hong Kong.
