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GREENSBORO — A FedEx Ground official said Friday that the company hopes to make an announcement shortly on where it will locate a $100 million package hub and an accompanying 259 jobs.

A 120-plus-acre site in Kernersville remains in the running, but the FedEx Ground official would not confirm reports that the Guilford County location has been selected.

“A decision has not been made yet,” said David Westrick, a spokesman for FedEx Ground, which is based in Pittsburgh. “The best I can tell you is shortly and we hope soon.”

A number of people familiar with the selection process privately expressed optimism Friday that FedEx Ground will locate in Kernersville, but they declined to speak publicly because of the sensitive nature of the selection process.

The Kernersville location, which is in Triad Business Park, faces competition from sites in Greenville, S.C., and Murfreesboro, Tenn.

In mid-July, the Guilford County commissioners, in a 9-2 vote, approved an incentives package of $952,500 over three years if the company locates here.

At that time, a FedEx Ground official said a decision would take two months.

Dan Lynch, president of the Greensboro Economic Development Alliance, said he feels good about the county’s incentives package and site.

“I think a combination of those two puts us in a very strong position as it relates to our competition,” Lynch said. “We continue to work with the FedEx Ground team.

They continue to perform their due diligence on multiple sites.”

If the company does locate here, Westrick said, work on the 400,000-square-foot hub would begin “as soon as possible.”

“We want to be up and operating by this time two years from now,” Westrick said. “In the shipping world, holidays are our busy time of the year.”

The FedEx Ground hub would not be related to the $300 million FedEx sorting facility hub scheduled to open next year at Piedmont Triad International Airport.

Staff Writer Gerald Witt contributed to this story.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com