Gap Inc.'s new e-commerce fulfillment/distribution center is expected to begin operations in August.

Gap Inc. has begun hiring for its new e-commerce fulfillment and distribution center that is nearing completion in the North Longview Business Park.

“We’ve made great progress and remain on track to be fully operational in August,” a Gap Inc. spokesperson said. Gap Inc. is the parent company of several retail brands, including Gap and Old Navy.

In February 2021, local leaders used words such as “game changer,” “historic” and “thrilling” to describe Gap’s decision to locate the 850,000-square-foot, $140 million facility in Longview. It’s located on 142 acres in the business park off Judson Road, south of FM 1844. As part of an incentive package agreement with the city, county and Longview Economic Development Corp., Gap will have an average of 255 full-time employees by later this year, ramping up to 500 by the end of 2023 and to 1,222 by 2026.

The center also is projected to create more than 1,000 part-time seasonal jobs by 2026.

Hiring has begun for full-time operations supervisors, maintenance technicians, learning and development professionals, human resource coordinators and other positions, the company reported. Additional information can be found at gapinc.com/en-us/careers/ .

A hiring event is set for 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 18 at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center, where the company spokesperson said Gap Inc. will begin hiring for full-time, benefits-eligible merchandise handlers. Jobs offer medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans, 50% off regular-priced merchandise at Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic and Athleta, tuition reimbursement, “competitive” paid time off, paid holidays and other benefits.

Construction is moving at a “quick pace,” said Wayne Mansfield, CEO and president of the Longview Economic Development Corp. LEDCO led the effort to bring Gap’s new distribution center to Longview.

“Even given all the weather we’ve had to deal with, the supply chain issues, both Gap and their contractor Gray construction have done an incredible job sticking to their timeline,” Mansfield said.

LEDCO will assist with the job fair in May, with Mansfield saying Gap already has hired a number of people.

“I believe they’re looking to start receiving some inventory around the first to the middle part of June,” he said.

The center will ship 1 million products a day when it’s fully operational, the company spokesperson said. Company officials previously said the center will initially serve Old Navy’s online business, but it can easily ship other company brands as well.

Those sales are one way Longview and Gregg County will reap the benefits from the center’s location here. While the agreements with the city and county call for them to return a portion of the sales tax revenues the center generates to the company for meeting capital expenditure and employment goals, the center still will bring millions of dollars of sales tax revenue to the area every year.

The city of Longview, for instance, is projected to receive an additional $3 million a year in sales tax revenues. The county would receive an additional $1.2 million annually, Mansfield said. Factor in all the indirect spinoff benefits, and Mansfield said the city is looking at a benefit of $123 million over a 25-year-period and $42 million over 25 years for Gregg County.

“In looking at Gap and LEDCO’s projections for this project, it will be a great benefit to our city when this facility gets up and running,” city spokesman Richard Yeakley said. “Based on their schedule and projections, we’d expect to start seeing some of that as early as 2023. It’s a testimony to the investment the city of Longview and LEDCO have made in infrastructure that we were able to attract a national corporation that will bring not only significant sales tax revenue increase, but also more than 1,000 well-paying jobs to the community.”

“We as a community are always looking for ways to grow and diversify our economy,” Yeakley said. “Both this facility as a distribution center and the retail component show we are on the right track when it comes to being a place where businesses want to call home.”

The distribution center will feature a retail store that is open to the public. Additional details were not immediately available.

Gap’s location here has other side benefits as well, Mansfield said. It helps increase the community’s visibility and helps draw the interest of other companies.

“When you have companies like Gap, Old Navy, or Dollar General or Komatsu or Nucor or Eastman — these are well-known companies throughout the world,” Mansfield said.

When those kinds of companies locate here, it helps attract businesses that provide services to those companies, or it encourages people locally to start businesses that provide services to those companies.

LEDCO staff recently attended a retail trade show and Mansfield said people were seeking them out to talk about Longview.

“Just the visibility that projects like (Gap) bring to Longview is second to none,” Mansfield said. “Other companies see that these are solid, financially stable, well-known companies that locate here. They know that Gregg County provides that ability to have a successful, profitable business here.”

LEDCO is seeing increased activity from companies interested in possibly locating or expanding here. The business environment in Texas in general is helping drive that interest, but the Gap project is bringing “visibility to Longview’s” industrial business parks,” Mansfield said.

“We’re getting a lot more requests for information, and I think we’re looking right now at close to 30 different projects that are looking at Longview. It’s higher than I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Mansfield said.

A hiring event is set for 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. May 18 at the Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center.

Hiring has begun for full-time operations supervisors, maintenance technicians, learning and development professionals, human resource coordinators and other positions. Additional information can be found at gapinc.com/en-us/careers/.