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FedEx will be delivered to LIC

Queens digw

Scooping symbolic shovels full of soil, FedEx and Long Island City officials celebrated breaking ground on the carrier’s new small-package distribution center on Borden Avenue.

The $56 million, 140,000 square-foot facility is scheduled to open in August of 2013, and will employ 200 people – 80 new hires and 120 transfers from an existing station in Maspeth.

According to Fed Ex, officials selected the site based on proximity to the highway and closeness to customers. The carrier claims the expansion will now allow them to better handle the number of parcels they receive annually, which has doubled over the last 10 years.

Fed Ex delivers more than 82 percent of packages in fewer than three days; more than 61 percent of packages in two days or less; and more than 23 percent by the next business day, according to company representatives.

Local business groups, excited by the June 22 ceremony, look forward to the possibilities and growth the new center may bring.

“We’re feeling positive about the new center,” said Long Island City Partnership Vice President Dan Miner. “We’re very pleased that Fed Ex has decided to relocate and expand their facilities in the Borden Avenue area.”

Miner said the addition of 200 new jobs provides a positive boost for the neighborhood, stating that 14 percent of jobs in LIC are industrial.

“It’s a piece of our diverse local economy,” he said.