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SkyBridge Continues Pace at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, Starting Next 250,000 s.f.
SkyBridge Arizona has started construction on a 250,000-square-foot “Building 108,” bringing its active industrial construction at the project to a half-million square feet at the nation's first-of-its-kind Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) facility.
MESA, ARIZONA, April 20, 2023 – Close on the heels of its 250,000-square-foot “Building 109” groundbreaking, SkyBridge Arizona has started construction on a second 250,000-square-foot building, “Building 108.” Together, the buildings bring the active Class A industrial construction at SkyBridge Arizona to a half-million square feet.
The developer joined on April 18 with Graycor Construction Company, CBRE - Phoenix and local dignitaries to kick off Building 108. It is the newest building to join the 435-acre mixed-use SkyBridge Arizona master plan, which already includes 134,500 square feet of newly completed office, hangar and aircraft bay space, constructed by Graycor and fully leased by CBRE.
Located along the southwest portion of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona, SkyBridge Arizona is slated to become a first-of-its-kind Unified Cargo Processing (UCP) facility, allowing users to complete on-site cargo inspections and processing so that shipments between the U.S. and Mexico can be expedited directly to their destinations in Mexico.
“We have designed and are developing SkyBridge Arizona for the unique needs of those operating in the aviation, air cargo, e-commerce, manufacturing and defense sectors,” said Ariel Picker, President of SkyBridge Arizona and SkyPlus Development. “The tenants who now occupy our SkyBridge buildings 106 and 107 are representative of those sectors. That is gratifying to watch come to fruition, and a positive indication of what lies ahead for this unique development.”
"The ingenuity and quality of the SkyBridge development continues to enhance the East Valley for all involved," said Bridgette Peterson, Mayor for the Town of Gilbert and Chair of the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport Authority. "We appreciate the commitment of SkyBridge to Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, celebrate this latest groundbreaking and look forward to the many benchmark celebrations to come."
Like Building 109, Building 108 will offer 32’ clear height, a 7” reinforced slab on 4” AMC, 30 dock-high and six ground-level doors, and generous power and parking. The building is divisible, allowing it to serve a wide range of tenant types and sizes.
When complete, SkyBridge Arizona will span 1.3 million square feet of aeronautical development, almost 2.2 million square feet of non-aeronautical development and 270,000 square feet of commercial retail and office development.
“The product mix at SkyBridge Arizona is in line with the current demand trajectory of the Mesa Gateway submarket,” said Rusty Martin, Graycor Construction Company’s Southwest Division General Manager. “We are pleased to continue our partnership with SkyBridge Arizona by bringing the next phase of this one-of-a-kind resource to the East Valley, the state and the region.”
At SkyBridge Arizona, Graycor has already completed an 82,500-square-foot, Class A hangar building including office space and four bays to accommodate aircraft as large as a G650 business jet. It has also completed a 52,000-square-foot flex industrial building with 24’ clear height, storefront entries, administrative offices, conference and break areas, and a warehouse component with up to four docks. Both buildings are fully leased to Gulfstream and Top Aces.
SkyBridge continues to pursue end-users with a focus on aeronautical and industrial requirements, in conjunction with economic development teams from the City of Mesa and State of Arizona.
The architect for SkyBridge Building 108 is ADM Group. The general contractor is Graycor Construction Company. Jackie Orcutt, Pete Wentis, Kevin Cosca, Jonathan Teeter and Alex Wentis of CBRE are the exclusive leasing brokers. For more visit www.skybridgeaz.com.
About SkyBridge
SkyBridge Arizona is the master developer of a 350+ acre industrial and air-side development at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona. SkyBridge Arizona is a part of SkyPlus Development, a dynamic organization with active developments in Miami, Florida; Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico; and Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico. Our expertise includes industrial, hangar and hospitality projects in these locations and beyond, and our team can deliver a broad array of development and tenant experiences, with the ability to creatively address the complicated needs of the real estate development world of today. See more at www.skybridgeaz.com.
About Graycor Inc.
Graycor Inc. is a leader in managing building and interiors construction projects throughout North America. In Arizona, Graycor combines more than 35 years of local subcontractor and partner relationships with the company’s more than 100 years of national experience in the cold storage, corporate, cultural/educational, food processing, living and lodging, logistics and distribution, manufacturing and retail markets. The combination maximizes Graycor’s national presence to bring Arizona clients optimal service and product delivery. For more information, visit www.graycor.com.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2021 revenue). The company has more than 105,000 employees (excluding Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
Des Plaines, Illinois – January 7, 2025: NOBLELIFT North America, a global leader in lithium-iron material handling technology, is excited to announce the appointment of Bill Pedriana as its new President. With nearly four decades of experience in the material handling industry, Pedriana is poised to lead NOBLELIFT North America into a new era of innovation, growth, and customer-centric success.
Bill Pedriana served as Chief Marketing Officer at Big Joe Forklifts, where his visionary leadership helped rebuild the brand, develop groundbreaking products (including the Joey series of access vehicles and their cobot pallet truck concept), and execute comprehensive sales and marketing strategies. For 14 years, Pedriana played an instrumental role in achieving an extraordinary 14x growth in sales and helping to drive the global expansion of Big Joe’s parent company, EP Equipment.
Pedriana’s track record of aligning business strategies with customer needs has consistently delivered exceptional results throughout his career. Drawing from his wealth of experience, he now brings his expertise to NOBLELIFT to continue building on the strong foundation established by his predecessor, Loren Swakow. Under Swakow’s leadership over the past eight years, NOBLELIFT North America experienced unparalleled growth and built a reputation for providing innovative and high-performance material handling solutions.
“I became attracted to NOBLELIFT over the past few years due to their exceptional manufacturing quality, progressive equipment design theory, and their sophistication when it came to deploying intelligent material handling systems,” said Pedriana. “As the incoming President of NOBLELIFT NorthAmerica, I aim to continue the strong growth the organization experienced under Loren Swakow over the past 8 years by utilizing my sales and product development expertise to enhance the value of NOBLELIFT for its distributors and OEM partners. In 2025, we will be introducing a number of new products and programs and expanding our team and capabilities to support our growth.”
Leading the Material Handling Industry Forward
NOBLELIFT North America is known for its wide range of innovative material handling equipment, including electric pallet trucks, sit-down forklifts, rough terrain forklifts, narrow aisle forklifts, walkie- stackers, order pickers, electric pallet trucks, scissor lifts, tuggers/tow tractors, scrubbers, sweepers, automated guided vehicles (AGV’s), lift tables, manual pallet jacks and more. With products trusted in over 100 countries, NOBLELIFT continues to deliver on its promise of high performance, low maintenance, and advanced ergonomic designs at an unbeatable value.
"As part of NOBLELIFT’s focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences, we are excited to have Bill Pedriana join us in this pivotal leadership role," said Wendy Mao, CEO at Noblelift Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. “His passion for the industry, proven ability to execute innovative strategies, and dedication to customer satisfaction make him the perfect leader to guide NOBLELIFT into our next phase of growth.”
Pedriana’s values extend beyond operations and product development. “Our industry was built by family businesses and handshakes,” shared Pedriana. “While it’s great to win, it’s how you play the game that delivers true long-term success. I’m grateful for the opportunity to bring everything I’ve learned during my 30+ year career to NOBLELIFT—a brand that aligns perfectly with my beliefs.”
Delivering on What’s Next
With Pedriana’s strategic vision, NOBLELIFT North America will continue to lead advancements in material handling solutions. Plans for 2025 include the launch of cutting-edge equipment and innovative programs designed to empower dealers, and end-users alike. NOBLELIFT North America invites dealers, OEM partners, and businesses to experience how its products and services are transforming operations across industries. To learn more about NOBLELIFT North America’s offerings, visit www.NOBLELIFTna.com or contact your local dealer.
About NOBLELIFT North America
NOBLELIFT® North America (www.nobleliftna.com) is a global leader in Lithium-iron technology. We manufacture a comprehensive range of high-performance, low-maintenance manual, electric, and internal combustion equipment with more than 200 categories and around 30 series of each product. Our products are designed to meet different application demands and are well accepted by our customers in more than 100 countries and regions in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and more. Products include: sit-down forklifts, rough terrain forklifts, narrow aisle forklifts, walkie-stackers, order pickers, electric pallet trucks, scissor lifts, tuggers/tow tractors, scrubbers, sweepers, automated guided vehicles (AGV’s), lift tables, manual pallet jacks and more. Noblelift® North America builds tough, durable products that deliver high productivity, low total cost of ownership, easy serviceability, and advanced ergonomic features; accompanied by outstanding parts, service, and training support.
For more information about our company and our products, visit www.nobleliftna.com or follow us on social media.
Des Plaines, Illinois – Loren Swakow, Managing Director of NOBLELIFT North America, has announced his retirement effective January 31st, 2025, leaving behind a legacy of unprecedented growth, innovation, and strong relationships built over nearly a decade at the helm of the company.
Swakow joined NOBLELIFT in October 2016, tasked with the challenge of bringing an unknown brand into the highly competitive American market. At the time, NOBLELIFT had no dealer network and minimal brand recognition. Over the course of eight years, Swakow's strategic leadership and expertise have led to remarkable success, driving average annual growth of 43%. Today, NOBLELIFT is supported by a professional dealer network spanning the entire country, with sales growth consistently outpacing the industry, a true testament to Swakow’s vision and determination.
Swakow’s leadership also played a key role in expanding NOBLELIFT's footprint into Canada by helping to establish NOBLELIFT Canada. His unwavering belief in the brand and dedication to fostering partnerships were critical to this growth.
Reflecting on his tenure, Swakow remarked, “It takes a great team to do what we did in eight years, and that’s what we have—A Great Team! I have always believed in fostering open communication, creating a culture of trust, empowering individuals, leveraging diverse perspectives, and prioritizing collaboration. We have all worked very hard, and I am proud of them all.”
Swakow’s career in the material handling industry began long before his time at NOBLELIFT. He co-founded a lift truck dealership with his brother, representing brands like Komatsu, Mitsubishi, Tailift, and TCM. After decades of success, they sold the dealership and related businesses in 2012. Swakow also played a key role in the wider industry, serving as a founding member and Presidentof the Chicago Industrial Truck Dealers Association and as President of MHEDA (Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association) in 2004. His strong belief in the power of networking was critical to the formation of NOBLELIFT North America.
"MHEDA has always been the optimal association for networking," Swakow stated. "The connections and insights I gained through MHEDA were invaluable as we built NOBLELIFT North America from the ground up."
The succession plan for Swakow's role has been set, with the announcement of his successor scheduled for January 7th, 2025. Through January, Swakow will collaborate closely with his successor to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities and to share his insights and guidance.
“We are grateful for Loren’s remarkable contributions to NOBLELIFT North America,” stated Wendy Mao, CEO at Noblelift Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. “His vision and passion have been instrumental in shaping our success. We are committed to building on the strong foundation he has established.”
Swakow’s dedication to excellence, his ability to inspire trust, and his relentless pursuit of success will leave a lasting impact on the material handling industry. While the company expresses enormous gratitude for his leadership, it is clear that his legacy will continue to guide NOBLELIFT on its upward trajectory.
About NOBLELIFT North America
NOBLELIFT® North America (www.nobleliftna.com) is a global leader in Lithium-iron technology. We manufacture a comprehensive range of high-performance, low-maintenance manual, electric, and internal combustion equipment with more than 200 categories and around 30 series of each product. Our products are designed to meet different application demands and are well accepted by our customers in more than 100 countries and regions in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and more. Products include: sit-down forklifts, rough terrain forklifts, narrow aisle forklifts, walkie-stackers, order pickers, electric pallet trucks, scissor lifts, tuggers/tow tractors, scrubbers, sweepers, automated guided vehicles (AGV’s), lift tables, manual pallet jacks and more. Noblelift® North America builds tough, durable products that deliver high productivity, low total cost of ownership, easy serviceability, and advanced ergonomic features; accompanied by outstanding parts, service, and training support.
For more information about our company and our products, visit www.nobleliftna.com or follow us on social media.
Grocery shoppers in Australia will soon be able to zip in and out of the store in record time, bypassing the lines for cashiers or self-checkout kiosks altogether. They can just walk in, make their selections, and walk out with their bags in hand.
The secret to this express shopping experience is the “Caper Cart,” an AI (artificial intelligence)-powered smart trolley from San Francisco-based Instacart. In its first deployment in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, the system is being tested by Coles Supermarkets, a food and beverage retailer with more than 1,800 grocery and liquor stores throughout the country.
To get started, customers simply grab a grocery cart-sized smart trolley at the store’s entrance and begin shopping, depositing the items directly into shopping bags as they go. The Caper Carts use onboard AI, cameras, and a built-in scale to automatically recognize items as they’re added to the trolley. Customers can watch their running total display on a screen—just as if they were shopping online—then swipe their credit card on the trolley’s payment terminal to complete the purchase.
“As the first retailer in Australia to introduce AI-powered trolleys, we’re excited to offer our customers a convenient and engaging way to shop in-store, helping them save time, manage their budget, and check out faster—or at their own pace,” Coles’ chief digital officer, Ben Hassing, said in a release. “The Coles smart trolley illustrates our omnichannel approach, leveraging digital capabilities to enrich the in-store experience.”
If you’re looking to make the packaging process more eco-friendly, the obvious place to start is with the box itself. And that’s exactly what Salt Lake City-based Packsize did when it made its initial foray into sustainable packaging back in 2002. That year, the company launched its first product, an innovative on-demand packaging system designed to reduce cardboard waste (and the need for filler material) by creating a right-sized box for each shipment.
Now the company is ready for the next step: greening up the glue.
According to Packsize, 300 billion boxes around the globe are sealed using 500,000 tons of hot-melt adhesive every year, contributing significantly to global emissions generated by the paper-based packaging industry. In a bid to cut those emissions, Packsize recently teamed up with Henkel Adhesive Technologies, a unit of the German chemical and consumer goods company Henkel, to launch Eco-Pax, a bio-based hot-melt adhesive designed to lower carbon footprints without sacrificing performance.
Eco-Pax is made from bio-based raw materials, forgoing traditional fossil-based ingredients. The adhesive will soon be used on more than 340 million boxes produced annually using Packsize’s right-sized packaging machines. That single change is expected to reduce Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-relevant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions up to 32%, which is equivalent to the burning of 1.75 million pounds of coal, the partners said.
“Partnering with an innovative leader like Packsize to launch a bio-based adhesive solution is a big step toward building a more sustainable packaging value chain,” Kevin Heffernan, head of business development, North America, consumer goods adhesives, Henkel Adhesives Technologies, said in a release. “Together, we’re setting a new standard for sustainability in packaging while delivering the high-performance brands and consumers trust.”
MOORESTOWN, NJ (December 18, 2024) OPEX® Corporation, a global leader in Next Generation Automation providing solutions for document, mail, and warehouse automation, has been selected as a finalist in the 2024 NED (New Equipment Digest) Innovation Awards, which celebrates innovations in industrial technology, tools, and equipment that empower businesses to work faster, better, and more cost-effectively.
Introduced in March 2024, Sure Sort X with Xtract is a fully adaptable, turnkey offering designed to automate multiple manual tasks with a simple, one-touch solution.
The technology handles nearly 100% of customer-sortable items weighing up to 20 pounds and sorts items into a configurable array of mixed bin sizes and types, all while maintaining a consistent throughput of up to 2,100 items per hour.
“We are excited to once again receive this recognition, which honors our warehouse automation solutions that clients around the globe count on, as well as our culture of innovation,” said Alex Stevens, President, OPEX Warehouse Automation. “Sure Sort has long been a preferred warehouse automation solution for distribution centers and third-party logistics companies. Sure Sort X paired with Xtract has been developed to meet the evolving demands of the marketplace to deliver one integrated solution that automates the sort and order takeaway process.”
When Sure Sort X is paired with Xtract, totes are retrieved and their contents are transferred into shipping containers automatically, eliminating the need to manually sort and transfer boxes downstream. Xtract iBOTs can handle up to 200 extracted totes per hour.
The system can accommodate multiple market vertical workflows and greatly reduce the need for human interface. Installation can occur in as little as one week and return on investment can be realized within just two years.
For nearly five decades, OPEX has served as a trusted partner, collaborating closely with clients to develop customized, scalable solutions that transform how they conduct business.
About OPEX
OPEX Corporation is a global leader in Next Generation Automation, providing innovative, unique solutions for warehouse, document and mail automation. With headquarters in Moorestown, NJ, USA—and facilities in Pennsauken, NJ; Plano, TX; France; Germany; Switzerland; the United Kingdom; and Australia—OPEX has nearly 1,600 employees who are continuously reimagining and delivering customized, scalable technology solutions that solve the business challenges of today and in the future.