Officer-involved shooting in Sparks; suspect still at large

North Valleys distribution center to bring 350 new jobs to the Reno area in 2019

Sam Gross
Reno Gazette-Journal
S&S Activewear has signed a lease on an 800,000 square foot facility in the North Valleys Commerce Center, a project that will create 350 jobs in the Reno area.

S&S Activewear, a wholesale distributor of imprintable apparel, announced alongside Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve and other city leaders at a press conference Tuesday morning that it will be opening a massive distribution center in the North Valleys in early 2019.

The company signed a lease to an 800,000-square-foot building in the North Valleys Commerce Center, making S&S Activewear the largest occupant of a pre-built facility in the history of Nevada.

More:Authorities recover body from ‘unprecedented’ depth in Lake Tahoe

More:Lime Scooters launch in Midtown Reno to help alleviate construction congestion

The facility is expected to bring 350 new jobs to the Reno area when it opens in early 2019. Employees will likely be paid in the $12 to $15 an hour range, depending on the position, according to S&S Activewear president Jim Shannon. 

"This creates jobs — that's really, really important," Schieve said during a Tuesday morning press conference at the North Valleys Commerce Center. "That's a significant amount of economic development here at home." 

Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve at a press conference in the Northern Nevada Commerce Center on Sept. 18. The press conference was announcing S&S Activewear's move to an 800,000 square foot facility in the commerce center.

Shannon said S&S Activewear will begin moving into the building early in 2019 and is expecting to open the facility by March 1. 

State or local governments didn't offer any incentives to S&S Activewear to come to Reno. Instead, the move was motivated by the company's desire to expand its one- and two-day shipping capabilities along the West Coast, which Reno is perfect for, Shannon said.  

Doug Roberts, a partner in the Panattoni Development company, which owns the building and the rest of the North Valleys Commerce Center, said they built the $50 million facility without a pre-arranged lessee. 

The market for real estate like this in Reno is good enough they we're confident it would get filled. 

"(Reno) is one of the biggest per capita industrial markets in the country," Roberts said.