MAGA Gov. Glenn Youngkin is touting an integrated supply-chain company that has announced plans for a $10 million warehouse and distribution facility in Pulaski County.
If I’m The Patton Logistics Group, I’m hitting the pause button on getting dirt moving until we get a full sense of how the Trump tariffs are going to disrupt the supply chain.
“This $10 million investment not only reinforces the company’s confidence in the Commonwealth’s strategic location and world-class logistics infrastructure, but it also creates new jobs and economic opportunity for hardworking Virginians in the New River Valley,” Youngkin said in a press release sent out by his office on Thursday.
The PR went out as the markets were in the midst of an unprecedented freefall, with the Dow down 15 percent from its 52-week high, the S&P 500 down 21.2 percent from its 52-week high, and the NASDAQ down 29.6 percent from its 52-week high.
The bulk of those losses have come in the past two days, as the markets try to make sense of the Trump tariffs that even the various Trump sycophants sent out to spread the tariff gospel to the TV news talking heads have not been able to explain.
We’re already hearing of mass layoffs in the auto industry, and talk about more coming across the economic landscape, as companies big and small attempt to navigate their way through the artificial disruption.
Which gets us to this news about The Patton Logistics Group, a family-owned company headquartered in Milton, Penn., which provides integrated supply chain solutions ranging from motor carrier transportation, warehousing, distribution services, logistics and brokerage sourcing.
The company grew from a coal delivery company with a single truck in 1941 to a group of three separate organizations – Patton Logistics LLC, Patton Warehousing LLC and Watsontown Trucking Company – with a presence throughout the United States and Canada.
The Patton Logistics Group employs 1,000 people, with operations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina.
Watsontown Trucking Company, the original of the three businesses, operates a fleet of 525 trucks and 1,500 trailers, with a workforce of over 600.
Patton Logistics LLC was founded in 2013 as an affiliated entity of Watsontown Trucking Company to provide transportation brokerage and third-party logistics services for its expanding customer base.
Patton Warehousing LLC manages 5.2 million square feet of warehouse space.
All I can say to those folks is, good luck.
“What started out in 2020 as a speculative real estate investment and a potential expansion of our logistics company into Southwest Virginia has turned into a significant supply chain solution for many of our clients,” The Patton Logistics Group President Steve Patton said, in a statement for the Thursday press release, which, again, was sent out as the world was turning upside down.
What he was referring to there was how, in 2020, The Patton Logistics Group constructed a 250,000 square-foot logistics center in the New River Valley Commerce Park in Pulaski County.
In 2021, the company expanded the warehouse by an additional 100,000 square feet and constructed a new trucking operations and maintenance center.
This latest buildout of a new 100,000-square-foot distribution and warehousing facility in Pulaski County was intended to enable Patton Logistics Group to expand its customer base across the Southeast.
You know, before the Trump tariffs upheaval.
“My co-workers in Southwest Virginia have been amazing and have given me the confidence to continue our expansion and investment into the Dublin area,” Patton said. “The proximity to major interstates 81 and 77 along with the availability for us to find a hardworking, reliable, and honest workforce have helped make our company an attractive option for clients looking for a supply chain partner. I am especially thankful to the economic development executives in Pulaski County, Gov. Youngkin, and the leadership at the state level for their continued support.”
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Chris Graham
