Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Advance Auto to move 40 jobs to Minnesota
Advance Auto Parts will relocate approximately 40 Roanoke jobs to its new regional office in Minnesota.
The jobs, which represent about 2.5 percent of the retailer’s Roanoke work force, are part of merchandising and inventory through the auto parts retailer’s do-it-yourself segment, said spokeswoman Shelly Whitaker. The company told employees through meetings and a memo on Monday, offering those impacted the choice to relocate or to apply for other positions within Advance in Roanoke or elsewhere.
Roanoke-based Advance is shifting these jobs as part of its strategy to grow its sales to $10 billion in the next five years, Whitaker said. Advance expects to employ nearly 100 people at its office in the Minneapolis area, which is more than it previously had planned. Currently, a temporary office is open in the Minneapolis area, and a permanent location has not yet been defined.
Advance will keep its headquarters in the Roanoke Valley, where it employs 1,600 across its corporate office, distribution center and local stores, Whitaker said. It also will add 12 new Roanoke jobs in the merchandising area, with a focus on hard parts, Whitaker said.
The Minnesota job shifts follow Advance’s hiring of chief executive officer and president Darren Jackson, a resident of the St. Paul/ Minneapolis area and a former executive with Best Buy. When Jackson’s appointment was announced last year, he said he planned to work primarily from the new Minnesota office and commute to Roanoke for the first six months of his job. Six months have passed since Jackson took the helm at Advance in January.
He’s still spending most weeks working in Roanoke, aside from the time that he travels for Advance business nationwide, Whitaker said.
Jackson has hired several executives in the last few months with ties to Best Buy and who also plan to work from the company’s Minneapolis area office.
They all reside in Minnesota.
They are: Michael Norona, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Judd Nystrom, vice president of finance and investor relations; and Kevin Freeland, executive vice president of supply chain and information technology.
The jobs, which represent about 2.5 percent of the retailer’s Roanoke work force, are part of merchandising and inventory through the auto parts retailer’s do-it-yourself segment, said spokeswoman Shelly Whitaker. The company told employees through meetings and a memo on Monday, offering those impacted the choice to relocate or to apply for other positions within Advance in Roanoke or elsewhere.
Roanoke-based Advance is shifting these jobs as part of its strategy to grow its sales to $10 billion in the next five years, Whitaker said. Advance expects to employ nearly 100 people at its office in the Minneapolis area, which is more than it previously had planned. Currently, a temporary office is open in the Minneapolis area, and a permanent location has not yet been defined.
Advance will keep its headquarters in the Roanoke Valley, where it employs 1,600 across its corporate office, distribution center and local stores, Whitaker said. It also will add 12 new Roanoke jobs in the merchandising area, with a focus on hard parts, Whitaker said.
The Minnesota job shifts follow Advance’s hiring of chief executive officer and president Darren Jackson, a resident of the St. Paul/ Minneapolis area and a former executive with Best Buy. When Jackson’s appointment was announced last year, he said he planned to work primarily from the new Minnesota office and commute to Roanoke for the first six months of his job. Six months have passed since Jackson took the helm at Advance in January.
He’s still spending most weeks working in Roanoke, aside from the time that he travels for Advance business nationwide, Whitaker said.
Jackson has hired several executives in the last few months with ties to Best Buy and who also plan to work from the company’s Minneapolis area office.
They all reside in Minnesota.
They are: Michael Norona, executive vice president and chief financial officer; Judd Nystrom, vice president of finance and investor relations; and Kevin Freeland, executive vice president of supply chain and information technology.
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