[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 68 (Thursday, April 20, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    IN RECOGNITION OF THE GRAND OPENING OF MOPAR'S WINCHESTER PARTS 
                          DISTRIBUTION CENTER

                                  _____
                                 

                         HON. BARBARA COMSTOCK

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 20, 2017

  Mrs. COMSTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share with you and our 
colleagues the news of an infusion of economic vitality in Virginia's 
10th Congressional District. On Tuesday, April 18th, Mopar, the 
service, parts and customer-care brand of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, 
will have celebrated the Grand Opening of a 400,000-plus square foot 
parts distribution center outside of Winchester, in the northern 
Shenandoah Valley. When fully operational this November, Mopar will 
have hired 70 workers who, each year, will be shipping 9.2 million auto 
parts to a couple hundred dealerships in the mid-Atlantic region. Mopar 
has signed a 15-year lease with Equus Capital Partners and will invest 
$12.2 million into equipment for the facility.
  First introduced as the name of a line of antifreeze products in 
1937, the Mopar brand, which comes from a contraction of the words 
``motor parts,'' celebrates 80 years of a significant transformation 
that today encompasses total service, parts and customer care for Fiat 
Chrysler Automobile owners around the globe.
  The choice of Frederick County, Virginia is an ideal location for 
Mopar in fulfilling its goal of better and more efficiently servicing 
Mid-Atlantic regional dealers. Located at the mid-point of the East 
Coast, Mopar will be able to move product in and out of Frederick 
County with ease via multiple highways, including Interstates 81 and 
66. Frederick County's pro-business tax structure and important 
workforce development initiatives have led to the county being 
recognized as among the top 10 percent of all Virginia localities for 
new job creation and top 15 percent for capital investment over the 
past decade. In fact, Forbes lists Frederick County and the greater 
Winchester region as among the top 20 ``best small places for business 
and careers'' in the nation.
  The quality of the workforce is a critically important consideration 
of companies as they make decisions about where to locate their 
operations and I am proud of my constituents in the northern Shenandoah 
Valley for being the hard working, well-educated workforce that 
attracts employers to the area.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that you and our colleagues join me in 
congratulating Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Mopar, for 80 years of 
success and for hiring American workers to distribute automobile parts 
to customers around the nation, including an additional 70 workers who 
will be hired at the newly established distribution center in Frederick 
County, Virginia.

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