Caterpillar to open parts distribution center in Ohio

Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, plans to open a new parts distribution center in Clayton, Ohio, that will employ as many as 600 people.

The Clayton Distribution Center, located about 10 miles northwest of Dayton, will be fully operational in 2011, Caterpillar said today in a statement. The facility will span more than a million square feet, Peoria-based Caterpillar said.

Caterpillar is adding the center as the company expands its parts distribution network. The Clayton facility will replace Caterpillar's Indianapolis Regional Distribution plant and assume some of the work now performed in Morton, Illinois. It follows the opening of a Caterpillar distribution center in Waco, Texas, which began operating this year.

The Clayton site will employ 500 to 600 people when fully staffed, Caterpillar said. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2010, dependent on approval of incentives from the state of Ohio, Montgomery County, and the Dayton Development Coalition.