DuPont Valdosta opened their new logistics and distribution center Wednesday at the Westside Business Park with 150,000 square feet to be the primary hub for the site's global distribution of the agriculture products manufactured at the company's Valdosta crop protection plant. The facility will include solar power generation to provide up to 30 percent of the site's electricity. The site selection was in partnership with the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority to promote economic development in the Valdosta region.

"This facility has been specifically built to address our long term storage and transportation requirements," said Ivan Caldwell, DuPont Valdosta site manager. "As our agriculture business continues to grow, we are in a position to manage future expansion without disruption to our manufacturing process."

The $5 million project is part of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority initiative to develop a full-service industrial facility at the Westside Business Park to encourage economic development in the Valdosta area. DuPont is in the process of expanding their Valdosta facility, which includes manufacturing new agriculture products requiring specific storage facilities its previous warehouse was not able to accommodate.

The DuPont Valdosta plant formulates and packages crop protection products, including insecticides and fungicides to protect fruits, vegetables and row crops for growers worldwide. The Valdosta plant also produces products for commercial and residential pest control. The site is located on Rocky Ford Road south of Highway 84. The property was purchased from the Griffin LLC in 2003 and consists of 170 acres with 22 acres developed.