P&G officially opens new warehouse

ALBANY — When last January’s tornado ripped through Procter & Gamble’s distribution center, the plant was forced to move distribution into its main building. As thing turned out, that may have been a blessing in disguise.

The plant opened a new warehouse Monday, exactly one year to the day of the old warehouse’s destruction.

“With the destruction of our outside warehouse by the tornado, we lost valuable warehouse space we used to ship out products,” Plant Manager Werhner Washington said. “By construing these new buildings onto our main plant structure, we can streamline our supply chain and make it more efficient. This will make it more cost-effective for P&G to produce and ship more Bounty and Charmin from Albany.

“And it’s all going to be under one roof. We can distribute from the plant and those warehouses.”

Albany City Manager Sharon Subadan cut the ribbon to open the new facility

Washington added that the plant plans to add two more smaller warehouses and hire 40 additional maintenance technicians this year after hiring the same number in 2017.

“This is a great day for P&G, the city of Albany and Dougherty County,” Washington said. “With help from the city of Albany, we just opened the first of three new warehouse buildings at our plant. The city ensured that all construction meets the necessary codes and regulations. They made the permit process very efficient, which allowed us to complete the construction as quickly as possible.

“P&G is very grateful to the city. We could not have opened this first building one year after the tornado without their partnership.”

Washington was clearly a happy man Monday.

“Now we can distribute products quickly from the plant or the warehouse, and it’s all under one roof,” he said. “So far, today has been the highlight of my year.”

The old warehouse destroyed by the tornado was separate from the P&G plant. Washington gave no timeline for the new hires or when construction would begin on the second warehouse.