Digi-Key celebrates opening of Product Distribution Center expansion

By Andrew Weeks

If there is a word to describe Digi-Key Electronics Product Distribution Center expansion, it is “big.”

Really big.

Digi-Key celebrated the opening in August of its new PDCe – a $400 million, 2.2 million square-foot facility that will meet the company’s growing needs for at least the next decade.

“This is a significant milestone for all DigiKey employees and our community,” said company President Dave Doherty. “For us, it’s deeper roots in Thief River Falls and a commitment to continue investing in this community and the state of Minnesota.” continued on page 24 continued from page 23

Doherty thanked the company’s partners, and said Digi-Key could not have the success it has achieved without that support.

“We don’t have a magic bullet. We’re not proud enough to think we can change the world by ourselves,” Doherty said, but noting with partnerships, the impossible can happen.

“Everything that is good is what it means to have Digi-Key in Thief River Falls,” said Mayor Brian Holmer.

“I didn’t plan to go this far,” said Ron Stordahl, Digi-Key founder and CEO, noting his original goal – which hasn’t changed – “was to just do the best job possible for clients.” When asked what other company successes he envisions for the future, he said it is tough to tell. “The growth has just been so phenomenal.”

Company reps and dignitaries also touted the jobs the expansion effort has and will yet create.

Work on the PDCe started in 2018. At the time, the company received a $40 million grant from the state of Minnesota for job expansion, Laura Stengrim, Digi-Key’s public relations and marketing communications manager, previously told Prairie Business, noting the company is well on the way to fulfilling that goal. It so far has added nearly 680 new employees.

During the celebration, which included a luncheon and tour, visitors were surprised by the entry of a robot during the lunch – a symbol of the innovation that is Digi-Key and what the future holds for the company that has a global clientele.

The new building is connected by skybridge to the main headquarters and existing distribution center, which is about 800,000 square feet – dwarfed by the new building that is large enough to fit 22 football fields inside. It is one of the 10 largest warehouse buildings in North America.

The facility has 27 miles of automated conveyor, with the average order traveling more than 3,200 feet inside the building.

The new facility allows Digi-Key to pick, pack and ship nearly three times the previous daily average of 27,000 packages to customers in more than 180 countries around the world.

Founded in 1972, Digi-Key offers more than 13.4 million products from more than 2,300 quality name-brand manufacturers. The company employs more than 5,200 – 3,600-plus in Thief River Falls alone – and has an annual sales of more than $4.7 billion.

Designed by Minnesota-based Widseth, McShane Construction served as general contractor and more than 80 subcontractors were hired to help complete the expansion.

The company received a certificate of occupancy in April 2021, but has been going slow with the new facility’s launch. It was still not full-scale in August Doherty said. The company is taking it slow to make sure all of the technology is online and running smoothly.