Dozens of business and government officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, celebrated the grand opening Friday of the Conair distribution center along Downsville Pike — a distribution center Conair officials said they believe is the largest in the state.

Conair President and CEO Kristie Juster said "wow," as she shared a statistic she learned Friday — that at more than 2.1 million square feet, every NFL team plus two practice fields would fit in the facility.

The facility, across Downsville Pike from the headquarters for Washington County Public Schools, began operations in March.

Conair is expected to create about 700 new full-time jobs over the next decade at this distribution center.

Hagerstown business news: With liquor board's blessing, Hub City Brewing is one step closer to opening day

The facility had 115 Conair employees on Friday, and about 150 total workers when including out-sourced jobs such as security and maintenance, said Dan Kochenash, Conair's senior vice president of distribution.

Kochenash said pay for the local jobs is "market rate, competitive."

The number of employees is projected to be around 700 in about four to five years or a little longer, Kochenash said.

The facility is a partnership with GXO Logistics, which oversees the site for Conair and manages operations.

Jorge Guanter Galtes, president of GXO Logistics for North America, said this facility will be the largest of hundreds the company manages in the U.S.

Construction began in 2021 and was completed this spring.

Governor stresses Conair's importance to Port of Baltimore

"Conair is a very important tenant and member of the Port of Baltimore family," Moore said after the ribbon-cutting. "We have such a deep respect for the fact that Conair is one of those companies that, even after the Port of Baltimore experienced one of the greatest both human and economic challenges and tragedies that we have seen in a generation, Conair was one of those companies that said, 'We're staying, no matter what.'

"Them being here, this grand opening, is a very big deal. Not just to the county and not just to the state, but it's the statement that was made — that in this moment, they are going to be Maryland tough and Baltimore strong."

The Francis Scott Key Bridge, southeast of Baltimore, collapsed in the early hours of March 26 after a large cargo ship struck the bridge.

The bodies of the six construction workers who were on the bridge and were killed in the collapse have been recovered.

Among the economic impacts from the bridge collapse has been getting cargo ships to and from the port with the bridge and ship wreckage blocking a main channel. Some temporary channels have been established since the collapse.

Conair gets incentives from Maryland, Washington County to open distribution center near Hagerstown

Kochenash said company officials were looking for a spot for an East Coast distribution center and looked in Pennsylvania and Maryland. The Hagerstown area, he said, offered programs and incentives as well as a labor pool.

The state approved a $2 million conditional Advantage Maryland loan for Conair that will turn into a grant if the company meets employment targets within 10 years, said Jayson Knott, senior director for business attraction with the Maryland Department of Commerce.

Those targets include hiring at least 500 full-time workers by Dec. 31, 2027. The company must maintain that employment level for the loan's full 10-year term, The Herald-Mail has previously reported.

Washington County also provided a similar conditional loan for $200,000 that will turn into a grant if conditions are met, Commissioners President John Barr confirmed.

"I think it's wonderful," Barr said of the facility.

Barr said he knows there's "a lot of dissension in the community about warehouses."

He says he calls them "big buildings."

Those built like this one, he said, can offer a lot of opportunities over the years because they can easily be adapted to house different types of operations, including light manufacturing, Barr said.

Moore told the crowd he looks at the facility and sees "all this opportunity, all this hope."

What's in the Conair distribution center?

The facility, which is actually two connected buildings, contains rows and rows of tall stacks that can hold pallets of products. There also is a long conveyor system that was moving boxes, and numerous "Cobots" or collaborative robots that help employees, were on the move.

The Cobots look like double-stacked audiovisual carts one would see in a school. They seemed to move around on their own among rows of racks where some Cuisinart products were sitting.

Conair is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of health and beauty products.

The Conair facility will handle incoming and outgoing product brands including Conair, Cuisinart, Waring, Scünci, BaByliss and BaBylissPRO. Kochenash said Waring is a professional/commercial brand of kitchen appliances for restaurants, while BaBylissPRO offers product versions like hair dryers and razors for professionals. Scünci products are hair accessories like scrunchies.

Federal case: Hagerstown teen indicted in cyber 'swatting' conspiracy for incidents around the country

During a tour of the facility, one of the presenters said 7,000 containers will come through the facility a year. These are large containers, the type that comes off a ship. An estimated 21.3 million cartons are expected to be received this year, with a projected 26.3 million cartons in 2028.

Much of the storage racking in the facility remained empty as the center is just ramping up operations.

During his visit to Washington County, Moore also stopped at the new Meritus Park on Thursday for a Flying Boxcars game and toured the Washington County Public Safety Training Center on Friday.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Largest distribution center in Maryland is near Hagerstown