Regional Wholesale Distribution Facilities for Blair County, Pennsylvania

Excerpts from the report: Altoona Enterprises, Inc., requested technical assistance from the Economic Development Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, on the economic feasibility of building and operating a wholesale distribution center for a 20-county area in central Pennsylvania and for three counties in western Maryland. The Economic Development Administration referred this request to the Transportation and Facilities Research Division of the Agricultural Research Service and provided the funds for the study. The study was given impetus by an urban renewal project in Altoona which will rejuvenate a part of the downtown area. This project will displace the only group of wholesalers in the Altoona and Blair County area who are located together. The Transportation and Facilities Research Division began its study in August 1968. All data relating to the amount of each commodity received by the wholesalers and the cost of handling the products from point of initial receipt through the various wholesale channels were obtained by personal interviews with the wholesalers. The study had the following objectives: • To analyze the present wholesale food marketing situation in the Blair County area and to determine if the products handled by firms needing new facilities are of sufficient volume and variety to provide a nucleus for a new wholesale distribution center. • To determine the major measurable costs of handling food products through firms needing new facilities. • To develop a master plan for orderly future growth as well as designs for firms needing new facilities immediately and to evaluate possible sites for efficient wholesale marketing. • To estimate the costs of land, facility construction, and operating expenses for the new facilities. • To estimate probable savings and other benefits from suggested improvements.