Veritiv Corporation’s move of its Greater Cincinnati area offices — and hundreds of current jobs — from Clermont County to Fairfield will be followed by an expansion that will give it the potential to add 200 more jobs in the coming year or two.
Completed this month, the newly minted Fortune 500 company's move to 72,000 square feet of space at the Gilmore Pointe Office Park at the corner of South Gilmore and Mack roads means a gain of approximately 500 workers, of which 420 are Veritiv employees, in exchange for a 10-year, $2 million property investment reimbursement.
It also paves the way for even more job growth at Veritiv, which Monday told this news outlet it acquired between 10,000 and 15,000 square feet of space in the 130,000-square-foot building. That gives it the potential to expand its employee base after build-out starts early next year, according to Mary Laschinger, Veritiv’s chief executive officer.
“It’s all part of our integration efforts as we brought the two big companies together into Veritiv,” Laschinger said. “We have the potential to grow to 600-plus here, and that’s likely our intention. There’s not a specific timeline, but I would expect that’s going to be over the course of the next 12 to 24 months.”
The company is a leading North American business-to-business distributor of print, publishing, packaging, and facility solutions; and also a provider of logistics and supply chain management services. The Fairfield office is part of Veritiv’s service platform, which includes customer service, information technology and financial roles, as well as some marketing and sales roles, Laschinger said.
“It’s a combination of different types of jobs at various levels of the organization,” she said.
The move means the South Gilmore corridor just north of Interstate 275 will have three of Fairfield’s 10 largest employers.
Veritiv Corporation was founded in July 2014 following the merger of International Paper’s Loveland-based xpedx division and Unisource Worldwide.
“It’s important for us to keep our employee base here because it goes back to the origination of our company,” Laschinger said. “One of our legacy companies had headquarters here, and we also have always found Ohio to be a tremendous location for us in terms of having well-educated people, great opportunities for us and the type of employees that we’re looking for.”
Laschinger said the company worked well with Fairfield officials and that the corner of South Gilmore and Mack was “the right type of property” for the company and an ideal location relative to its existing employee base.
Veritiv officials said the company wanted to look at all the options in Greater Cincinnati to find an ideal location.
“REDI has been working with Veritiv for several years, and we supported the company’s choice to remain in Greater Cincinnati,” said Kimm Coyner, vice president, business development and projects for Regional Economic Development Initiative Cincinnati. “Veritiv is an important member of the region’s business community.”
The company came to Fairfield in exchange for a 10-year, $2 million property investment reimbursement incentive.
Greg Kathman, Fairfield development services director, said the city was fortunate the Gilmore Pointe Office Park building was available and capable of handling all of Veritiv’s needs, giving it easy access just a quarter-mile from Interstate 275 and access to numerous employees in all directions.
“The quality of the jobs is really exciting for us,” Kathman said. “These are not minimum wage-type jobs, these are professional, corporate type of jobs and Veritiv is a Fortune 500 company so it adds … to the level of prestige of our community. especially being right next to Cincinnati Financial and then Mercy Hospital right across the street.
“This has become a really important corporate corridor for us.”
Veritiv occupies the third and fourth floors in the four-story building, half of the second floor and part of the first floor, Kathman said. Once the company’s expansion takes place, it will occupy approximately 80 percent of the building.
Kert Radel, president and CEO of the Fairfield Chamber of Commerce, said Veritiv moving into Fairfield is “a huge, huge success story” for the company, as well as the city.
“When you have a company of this size come in and be able to build upon this area … it builds a strong base and you need that employment base, as well,” Radel said. “It shows the economy is working well here in Fairfield. Things are good and strong.”
Radel and Kathman said there is plenty of available land for further development in the South Gilmore area.
FAIRFIELD’S TOP 10 EMPLOYERS: FULL-TIME EMPOYEES*
- Cincinnati Financial Corp.: 2,800
- Liberty Mutual: 1,400
- Mercy Hospital Fairfield: 1,250
- Koch Foods: 1,000
- Fairfield City School District: 900
- Pacific Industries: 650
- Express Scripts: 600
- Takumi Stamping: 500
- Veritiv Corporation: 420
- Tri-County Extended Care: 400
Source: City of Fairfield/ * - estimated
VERITIV: COMPANY BIO
Headquarters: Atlanta, Ga.
Founded: Veritiv Corporation was founded in July 2014 following the merger of International Paper’s xpedx division and Unisource Worldwide.
Employees: There are approximately 550 employees in Greater Cincinnati, which includes distribution centers in Fairfield and Northern Kentucky; 600 employees in Ohio; and approximately 8,800 team members across 180 distribution centers in North America
Company description: Veritiv is a leading North American business-to-business distributor of print, publishing, packaging, and facility solutions; and also a provider of logistics and supply chain management services.
2015 net sales: $8.7 billion, of which 70 percent came from the company’s print and packaging segments.
