Aug. 5—VERNON TOWNSHIP — An Erie-based international business logistics firm has opened a new facility in the Crawford Business Park, just west of Meadville.

As of Monday, Logistics Plus Inc. of Erie began operation a new 52,000-square-foot warehouse at the business park owned by the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County. The park is located off Dunham and South Mosiertown roads in Vernon Township.

Founded in Erie 25 years ago by Jim Berlin, Logistics Plus provides freight transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, global logistics, business intelligence and supply chain management.

It has nearly 1,000 employees in more than 30 countries around the world.

The new Meadville warehouse will have two to three employees initially with the four to eight additional employees possible as business expands.

"We are excited to bring Logistics Plus into our community and look forward to continuing to build a relationship with them," said Jim Becker, executive director of the Economic Progress Alliance in Crawford County. "They are a great company with an excellent reputation and they continue to grow."

"As Logistics Plus expands its global operations, we are also proud to expand our regional footprint," Yuriy Ostapyak, chief operating officer for Logistics Plus, said in a statement.

"We appreciate the cooperation we received from EPACC in identifying and securing this additional capacity for us in Meadville," Ostapyak said. "Adding additional warehousing in neighboring Crawford County to extend our Erie warehousing operations is convenient and will provide another great storage option for our customers."

In addition to Erie and Meadville, Logistics Plus has offices, warehouses and agents in Aurora, Col.; Buffalo, Olean and New York, N.Y.; Charlotte and Lexington, N.C.; Chicago, Ill.; Chino, Colton, Los Angeles, Ontario and San Francisco, Calif.; Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Dallas, Haslet, Houston and Laredo, Texas; Dayton, N.J.; Des Moines, Iowa; Miami, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Tulsa, Okla. and Vancouver, Wash.

Its international locations are in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uganda and Vietnam.