AUBURN – The freight division of Bisson Transportation is going to call Auburn home.

Bob Cooper, owner and president of the Bath-based transportation fleet, said his company has signed a lease with Gendron & Gendron to occupy 60,000 square feet of a new warehouse in Auburn Industrial Park.

The commitment signals the first tenant for the area’s newest industrial park, and the first of what could grow to become a 300,000-square-foot logistics hub for Bisson.

“These are very similar to the plans we had a while back,” said Cooper, referencing a 2005 announcement that the trucking company would build a $13 million warehouse and distribution center there. “Bisson will take 60,000 square feet of the initial (Gendron) build-out. We are planning to move our freight division over to that building once it’s complete, which we expect will be in the first quarter of 2008.”

The company’s original plans were abandoned when Bisson couldn’t find an anchor tenant to ensure the cost of building its own warehouse. Gendron stepped in last year, buying the first parcel in the industrial park and announcing plans to build a warehouse on spec.

Now Bisson has a Midwest paper company client that has come on board, which will take at least 30,000 square feet in the new building.

“It’s a great start for us,” Cooper said. “We hope to attract other clients and expand to 100,000 square feet, 150,000 … who knows how much space we’ll ultimately take.”

“This proves the viability of the industrial park and its proximity to the intermodal facility … there is a demand for it,” said Dan Thayer, president of the Auburn Business Development Corp., which launched the park in 2005.

Rail access was key to selecting the Auburn location, Cooper said. Gendron will build a 1,200-foot rail spur to connect with the St. Lawrence and Atlantic line.

“The trucking industry is facing something of a crisis,” Cooper said. “Many drivers are in their 40s and 50s and are going to be retiring. There are fewer people coming along to replace them. Plus with fuel prices increasing, trucking will be trickier and trickier.

“Having an alternative by rail is going to be strategically helpful,” he said.

About 50 percent of the company’s total revenue comes from the freight division. Cooper said the company expects to increase that to 65 percent by 2009.

“It’s our fastest growing division,” he said. “Bisson’s future success depends heavily on the success of our freight division.”

In 2005, Bisson Transportation delivered 6,300 loads, with a better-than 99 percent on-time rating and logged more than 5.3 million miles, according to Glen Frost, chief financial officer for the company.

In February, the company announced that it would open a maintenance and garage facility on Poland Road. It previously operated a similar facility in Lewiston, but has outgrown its Webster Street location, Cooper said.

The maintenance facility will service Bisson’s 65 owner/operator trucks and 120 trailers, as well as commercial customers. Repair and maintenance services will be available, including state of Maine inspections for heavy-duty trucks and towing services for the big rigs.

The household moving and storage division of the company will remain in Bath where it was founded in 1919, Cooper said.

Michael Miller, an industrial specialist with NAI/Dunham Group who helped broker the deal, said having a tenant with Bisson’s reputation bodes well for other tenants in the expanding industrial park.

“Having Bisson there gives you a good solid anchor,” he said. “People like to be with a proven entity because you know they’ve gone through an exhaustive selection process before making a commitment.”

The Auburn Industrial Park is a collaboration among the Auburn Business Development Corp., Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council and the cities’ municipal governments. More than 78 acres have been set aside for development, tapping into the area’s proximity to the rail line, the municipal airport, the Maine Turnpike, intermodal Customs facilities and Foreign Trade Zone.

Thayer said once the first phase of the park is complete, it will easily pay back the $3 million bond the city paid for roads and infrastructure through tax revenue.

“That’s great news for the city of Auburn,” he said.