$258K Grant Officially Announced For Mercedes Supplier

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey this announced that her office has awarded a $258,000 Community Development Block Grant to provide infrastructure needed by Schnellecke Logistics Alabama, as it begins work on a new building near the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International automobile plant in Vance.

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Schnellecke Logistics will add 162 immediate jobs and will play a role in Mercedes-Benz’s plan to produce electric vehicles.

“From the start, Alabama’s vehicle manufacturing facilities have produced top-of-the-line automobiles and are poised to continue doing the same as the automobile industry transitions toward electric vehicles,” Ivey said. “I am pleased to support this project and the jobs it will create.”

Schnellecke is in the process of bringing its 530,000-square-foot logistics warehouse online, with plans to eventually employ 373 people by its third year of operation.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs will administer the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

According to the governor's office, Tuscaloosa County will be providing a local match of $64,500 for the project.

Patch reported earlier this month when county commissioners unanimously approved $17,800 from the county's general fund budget to be put toward an Alabama Department of Transportation traffic study for Will Walker Road and M-Class Boulevard, which will be a high-traffic corridor for the new $53.6 million facility.

The expansion will serve as a storage and sequence facility for parts used in electric vehicles as the German automaker aims to raise its profile in the electric vehicle market.

Mercedes has previously expressed its intention to produce six all-electric models by the end of 2022, with two of them being assembled at the plant in Vance.

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