A logistics and freight forwarding company with a presence in more than 130 countries has chosen Miami’s Blue Lagoon for its Region Americas headquarters move, bringing 88 high-paying jobs to the region.
The company will officially announce the move Wednesday at the Beacon Council’s 2017 Annual Key Ceremony at the InterContinental Miami.
DB Schenker Americas began relocating workers from Freeport, New York to a temporary office near Miami International Airport in September. It currently has 30 employees at the site as it awaits 18,000 square feet of permanent office space to be built in the Blue Lagoon area.
“Out of those 30 [employees], 10 have been local hires,” Brent Blake, CFO of DB Schenker Americas, told the South Florida Business Journal. That includes Blake, who has previously held senior roles at Doral-based Del Monte Fresh and Burger King Holdings, formerly based in Miami.
Blake expects the move to be completed and the new corporate headquarters to be fully staffed in the next 24 months.
The minimum average salary of the 88 positions expected it be filled by that time is about $90,000, not including benefits, Blake said. The median salary for Miami-Dade County is $46,036. DB Schenker also has another 140 employees at its West Doral branch.
Philippe Gilbert, CEO of DB Schenker Americas, said more positions are expected to be added to the Blue Lagoon headquarters in the future.
Gilbert said DB Schenker Americas considered a number of cities for its corporate relocation and Miami won out over Dallas, Houston and Atlanta because of a number of factors.
“There was a desire to be able to connect easily to airports in Europe and Latin America to be able to connect with our team members [all over the world] and in the U.S.,” Gilbert said.
Real estate costs, ease of finding employees and quality of living were among the factors they considered.
“Obviously with Miami-Dade County having a very large freight forwarding logistics footprint it is a very good fit for us,” Blake said.
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