Carvana bringing 400 jobs to area

Used-car online retailer Carvana will build a new vehicle facility in southern Chesterfield County that is expected to create up to 400 jobs when it opens, the governor's office announced Thursday afternoon.

The Arizona-based company, which has made a name for itself by building "vending machines" that hold used cars. will build a vehicle inspection and reconditioning center on a 177-acre site off Woods Edge Road near Ruffin Mill Industrial Park. The site backs up to Interstate 95. 

No dates were immediately announced for actual construction or the opening of the facility.

Chesterfield beat out sites in North Carolina and Tennessee as the new location, according to a statement from the governor's office.

“This is an exciting win for the region and for the Commonwealth.” Gov. Ralph S. Northam said in the statement. Northam called Carvana a "fast-growing national company" and added he was "proud that it has chosen to locate and create new jobs in Chesterfield County."

All of Carvana's commerce is done online, with a database of more than 15,000 used vehicles.

Customers shop for vehicles through the site and then are able to pick them up from the lot closest to them. In 23 locations around the country, the company has put up multi-story vending machines where customers can go and pick up their cars.

The company has a pick-up lot in Petersburg, on the site of the former Shoney's restaurant on South Crater Road in the city's Oakhurst area.

Benjamin Morens, director of logistics for Carvana, said in the statement that the company was looking forward  to "becoming a member of the community.”  

According to information supplied by Carvana, vehicles are checked and photographed in 360 degrees to allow customers to get a detailed virtual tour of each of them.

“Greater Richmond has emerged as a hub for globally recognized businesses, and Carvana will be a strong addition to the region’s impressive corporate roster,” Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball said in the statement released by the governor's office. Ball said the Woods Edge Road location "will provide strategic access to major thoroughfares traversing the country, as well as a robust labor force to support Carvana’s continued growth in U.S. markets.”

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with Chesterfield County to get the Carvana project. Additionally, Northam approved a $360,000 Commonwealth Opportunity Fund to assist with the deal.

Additionally, Carvana will be eligible for a major-business facility job tax credit for the new full-time jobs it brings to Chesterfield.

Outgoing state Sen. Rosalyn R. Dance, D-Petersburg, whose district includes the Carvana site, said the deal "represents an incredible economic opportunity in the Commonwealth."

Bill Atkinson can be reached at 804-722-5167 or batkinson@progress-index.com. On Twitter: @BAtkinsonpi.