UNITED Parcel Services (UPS) is to open a new regional air sorting hub in Rockford, Illinois, to handle volume created by continuous and vigorous growth in its air express business.
UPS also operates regional hubs in Philadelphia, Dallas and Ontario, California, as well as the company's main air hub in Louisville.
Set to open this year, the Rockford hub will employ 300 people and be served by 12 UPS flights per day.
UPS will convert an existing building at the Greater Rockford Airport into a 200,000-square-foot sorting facility, capable of processing 30,000 packages an hour.
Expansion plans for the hub call for additional staff and an increase in package-handling capacity to 80,000 pieces per hour by 1998.
The hub, located 75 miles northwest of Chicago, also will enable UPS to provide timely ground movements to and from the Chicago metropolitan area.