Company Expansion Brings Jobs

H.D. Smith officials plan to expand their south side office on Fiat Avenue. A $50 million expansion project is in the works. Company officials say they considered building this corporate campus in other states. But Springfield won out; this is where the company was started back in the 1950s. Company President and CEO Dale Smith says, "Theres no more fitting place for us to do that than right here in our hometown." It looks like your typical office, but its the fourth largest drug wholesaler in the country. H.D. Smith distributes 35-thousand products. Including things you might use daily. "Essentially, its all the health and beauty aides products. Itd be the Tylenol, the shampoos, the antacid laxatives, the cough and cold items. Those are all the items that you typically see in a drug store. And we supply them," says Smith. The city offered H.D. Smith a $4 million incentive package to build their corporate campus here in the Capital City. And city leaders say its impact is tremendous for Springfield. Mayor Tim Davlin says, "Im 49 and a half years old and this is the largest growth producing project in my lifetime thats come to the city of Springfield." Davlin says the campus will sit on 30 acres. It will take over all the open space in the south side area, closing down all the roads around it. Company officials hope to complete the project in five years. The mayor estimates that this project will also create about 600 construction jobs. The H.D. Smith expansion project still needs the city councils approval. Davlin says he doesnt expect any aldermen to vote against the project.