The next giant neighbor in Moore is not another big-box store, it is a 330,000-square-foot, highly automated pharmaceutical distribution center that McKesson is parking in the North Moore Industrial Park. The facility comes with an estimated $179 million price tag and is expected to deliver more than 200 direct jobs, plus hundreds more during construction and through indirect employment. The site will replace an older McKesson distribution operation while expanding the company’s ability to supply pharmacies and hospitals across Oklahoma, Texas and nearby states. For Moore, long a workhorse manufacturing and logistics hub just south of Oklahoma City, officials say this is one of the largest private investments the city has seen in years.
What the state release says
In a press release from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, state and county leaders pitched the Moore facility as a regional pharmaceutical distribution hub that will layer in state-of-the-art automation, precision inventory tools and expanded cold-chain capacity backed by 100% standby power. “This investment strengthens our ability to deliver with speed, precision and resilience,” McKesson executive Gene Cavacini said in the announcement. The release credits a coordinated push by city and county officials, including infrastructure upgrades and a tax increment financing district, with making the industrial park competitive on a national site-selection shortlist. County leaders also cast the project as a foundational play that could help lure additional logistics and healthcare supply companies to Cleveland County.
Projected economic boost
As reported by The Oklahoman, the McKesson build is tagged as a $179 million capital investment that is expected to create more than 200 direct jobs and roughly 633 total jobs, including direct, indirect and induced positions, by the first full year of operations. A county impact analysis projects about 1,156 jobs during the construction phase, with approximately $85.7 million in construction wages and an estimated $28 million in tax revenue generated while the project is being built. Once the center is fully up and running, officials say the annual economic contribution could climb to roughly $118 million. Local leaders argue that those numbers place the project firmly in “long-term anchor” territory rather than a short-lived construction boom.
How Moore landed the deal
City officials and the Cleveland County Economic Development Coalition say they moved quickly on infrastructure improvements and deployed a Tax Increment Financing district to make the North Moore Industrial Park stand out in a crowded field of national contenders. The state release from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce credits that planning work, along with tight city-county coordination, with nudging McKesson’s site selectors toward Moore. Mayor Mark Hamm and county commissioners have been quick to hold the project up as proof that when local governments pull in the same direction, nine-figure private investments can follow.
Timeline and next steps
Officials told The Oklahoman that early site work is expected to start soon, with major construction running through 2028 and full operations targeted around 2029. McKesson plans to use the Moore hub to replace and modernize an older distribution site, consolidate capacity and layer in more automation and expanded cold storage. City and county staff will now move into the less flashy but critical work of permitting, traffic and infrastructure studies and workforce planning while McKesson locks in construction partners and final site designs. Nearby residents and businesses can expect more details to surface through public filings and community briefings over the coming months.
Why the investment matters
McKesson is one of the largest pharmaceutical distributors in North America, and the company notes on its corporate materials that it moves about one-third of the medicines on the continent through a network of digitally connected distribution centers. That scale means a modern, resilient regional hub in Moore carries real weight for pharmacies, hospitals and clinics across the multi-state area, according to officials. Locally, leaders say the plant is intended to serve as a cornerstone for a growing logistics cluster, helping to attract suppliers and service providers that specialize in complex warehousing and cold-chain operations. The announcement is also sharpening attention on workforce training and the technical skills that increasingly automated facilities will require from employees.
City and county leaders say more details are coming soon on hiring timelines, incentive structures and broader community benefits tied to the project. For Moore, the McKesson deal represents the kind of large, long-horizon private investment that officials hope will recast the city’s industrial profile for years to come.
