Economic Impact of the
Warehouse
Operations in
Whitestown, Indiana
Contents
Foreword: Chuck Cornwell, General Manager
Executive Summary
Introduction
Boone County, IN
Economic Impact
Operations
Growth Projections
Model Estimation & Potential
Sources for Error
Conclusion
Appendix A - Methodology
Methodology
Economic Impact Measures
Key Terms
Appendix B - About the Author
Appendix C - Overview for Boone County, IN
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Dear Readers,
As I celebrate one year with SHEIN, it gives me great pleasure to release the ndings and forecast of Kyle
Anderson, Ph.D., an economist at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, of the economic impact of
SHEIN’s Whitestown, Indiana operations.
When we made the decision to open in Indiana, what would be SHEIN’s largest U.S. facility to date, I knew
we had selected the right location for our company’s rst central U.S. hub. In my twenty-ve-year career,
I have overseen more than 4.6 million square feet of operations for some of the world’s leading retail
brands. In those same twenty-ve years, I have also witnessed a tremendous amount of transformation.
Modern equipment has increased agility and improved safety, and advanced technology has enabled
global supply chains to become more interconnected. These benets will all be realized at SHEIN
Whitestown in a beautiful space that will serve as a model for other facilities to come.
The successful opening of any operation requires not only competitive wages, but also competitive
benets, and a physical space that goes above and beyond to meet employee needs.
A state-of-the-art gym, daily meal stipend, and separate serenity and mother’s rooms are among those
features which we’ll have at SHEIN Whitestown. I am proud of our employee offering, which also includes
wages that are above the statewide average and 90% employer paid healthcare premiums. These
offerings have allowed us to attract a rapidly growing team of employees, notwithstanding a period of
economic uncertainty.
I not only want to thank the commitment of our talented internal team, but also our Indiana partners that
have helped us along the way. We could not have advanced the operation and while continuing to meet
our timeline without the help of Compass Construction Group, Curran Architecture, JLL, OMNI Electric,
Ferrer Mechanical, Taylored Systems, RDS Ofce Furniture, Acorn Distributors, Material Handling Exchange,
and Partners Personnel.
To the state of Indiana – thank you for welcoming SHEIN and allowing us to call Whitestown home. And to
the SHEIN Whitestown team, now 700 strong and counting – I am looking forward to great things ahead.
Chuck Cornwell
General Manager, SHEIN Whitestown Facility
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Executive Summary
The purpose of this study is to provide a preliminary
measure of the economic impact of the SHEIN
warehouse facility located in Whitestown, Indiana.
The facility is presently being expanded with a
ribbon-cutting planned in 2023.
Boone County, Indiana, where the facility is
located, has a gross domestic product (GDP)
contribution estimated to be $3.9 billion in 2020 and
is growing at a rate of 8% per year. Based on
employment and investment projections, the
facility will generate a total economic value added of
$175 million per year once fully operational.
Planned employment will be over 1,000 full-time
workers in the rst year, growing to over 1,400 in the
next few years. The total economic impact will be the
creation of more than 1,700 new jobs in the Central
Indiana region.
Based on estimates of growth at the facility and
RIMS II economic analysis of multipliers for the
warehouse and storage industry based on
employment, direct employment is anticipated to
increase to 1,415 employees by the end of 2025, the
total employment impact in the region would
increase to 2,277 by 2025, and the Final Demand
Value Added to over $230 million per year.
SHEIN in Indiana:
$175 million
annual economic value
1,700 new jobs
in Central Indiana
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Introduction
In this study, we measure the economic impact of the
SHEIN warehousing facilities and business activities on the
economy of Boone County, Indiana, as well as the
surrounding counties.
SHEIN is a global e-commerce retailer with centers of
operation around the world. In 2022, it opened a return center and
warehouse facility in Whitestown, Indiana. The primary purpose of the
facility is to receive merchandise via truck delivery, process returns, sort
merchandise and redistribute products to consumers.
This report estimates the anticipated annual economic impact of the facility.
The economic benet comes in the form of capital investment, increased
employment (over 1,000 employees anticipated by the end of 2022),
purchase of goods and services related to the operations, and the
downstream economic benets associated with the operations.
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Boone County, Indiana
The facility is in Whitestown, Indiana, located in Boone County in
the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson metropolitan area. The
population of Boone County is more than 73,000, and it is located
northwest of Marion County, which encompasses the city of
Indianapolis. Whitestown is located surrounding Interstate 65, a
main thoroughfare in the “Crossroads of America,” and a
connecting highway between Indianapolis and Chicago. As a
result, more than 30% of jobs in the county are in the
Transportation and Warehousing sector.
As of Q1 2021, there were 11,691 workers in Boone County working in
the Transportation and Warehousing
1
sectors. The average weekly
wage was $774, representing total annual wages in excess of $470
million. By comparison, as of Q1 2016, there were 2,377 workers in
that sector in Boone County, representing annual wages of less
than $80 million. Growth in the Transportation and Warehousing
sector has fueled signicant growth for both Whitestown and
the Boone County area. (See Appendix C for more detailed data
about Boone County’s population and demographics.)
SHEIN’s employment level of more than 1,000 warehouse
workers in 2022 will have a substantial impact on the size of the
economy in the city and county. Average weekly wages for
warehouse employees of $787 are in line with (or slightly
above) the average wage for the industry in Boone County.
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1
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), accessed through Stats Indiana: https://www.stats.indiana.edu/cew/
SHEIN Whitestown employees earn benets that exceed
the national average for all workers, and specically
when compared to workers in the transportation and
warehouse industries. The national median cost of
benets is $8.48 per hour
2
. While we do not explicitly
calculate the economic costs for SHEIN workers since
some of these come through a third party, it is likely
this value exceeds the national average.
SHEIN pays 90% of the premium for health, dental, and
vision insurance for its workers. Providing highly subsi-
dized health insurance is benecial for local healthcare
providers, and has the potential to improve health
outcomes among the population. In Indiana, the
uninsured rate is 9.1% among households with at least
one employed person
3
. This number is higher in the
transportation and warehousing industries.
SHEIN’s facilitiy is a major piece that is driving
economic growth in Boone County that extends well
beyond the Transportation and Warehousing industry.
In January 2022, Kittle Property Group announced a $54
million affordable housing project in Whitestown that will create 264 housing units
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. The focus for
the development will be to create housing for “those working in distribution centers” such as the
SHEIN facility. Construction began in early 2022 and is anticipated to be completed by October
2022, coinciding with growth in the SHEIN facility. The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated the
GDP contribution from Boone County to be $3.9 billion in 2020, which is the most recent year for
which data are available. Due to signicant development and growth in the region, that gure is
likely to be $4.4 billion by 2022. As GDP is a measure of nal goods and services, the SHEIN facility
won’t directly add to that number. However, the economic activity and spending associated with
the facility will likely make a signicant impact on the gure.
The employed population of Boone County is 37,720 as of 2021. SHEIN’s facility opening in 2022 will
directly increase that by more than 2.5%
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.
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2
Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2022: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecec.pdf
3
KFF Current Population Survey https://www.kff.org/state-category/health-coverage-uninsured/
4
“Kittle to develop $54m workforce-housing project in fast-growing Whitestown”, Indianapolis Business Journal, Jan. 25, 2022.
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The actual number will be smaller due to some workers living outside of Boone County. However, the impact is still quite large, but spread out across a broader geographic area.
Economic Impact
The overall economic impact of the
warehouse facility is measured in
terms of new jobs created and the
estimated contribution to nal
demand. This report focuses on the
projected ongoing operations of the
facility once it reaches full volume.
Operations
The warehouse facility began initial operations in the
second quarter of 2022 and is estimated to scale
quickly. An estimated 1,077 full-time employees are
anticipated to be working by the end of 2022, many of
whom will be in warehouse-related roles, with others in
managerial, supervisory, maintenance and other positions.
The average hourly wage is estimated to be around $19.68,
which is more than double the minimum wage of $7.25 an
hour in Indiana
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. By the end of 2022, annual payroll is
estimated at just over $44 million. Additionally, an
estimated annual budget of $20 million has been
allocated by SHEIN for vendor payments for goods and
services in support of the operations.
This analysis uses the Regional Input-Output Modeling
System (RIMS II) economic analysis of multipliers
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for the
warehouse and storage industry based on employment.
Our rst step in the calculation is to estimate the total
employment impact of the facility. SHEIN will employ 1,077
employees, with total expenditures of $64 million by the
end of 2022. Since the SHEIN facility is not responsible for
garment production, steps must be taken to estimate the
total value output of both the facility and subsequent
effects. Total employment effects of the facility are
estimated to be 1,733 total employees based on an
employment multiplier of 1.61. Therefore, each job created
by SHEIN leads to an additional 0.61 jobs per employee
created through indirect and induced effects. Indirect
effects reect the spending by suppliers and business
partners, and induced effects
Total estimated
employment effects
of the SHEIN
Whitestown facility:
1,733
Employees
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Indiana Minimum Wage for 2021, 2022: https://www.minimum-wage.org/indiana
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A multiplier is the term for the total economic effect divided by the direct effect. See Appendix A for more discussion on the
terms and calculations.
Based on total employment creation,
calculations can be made for nal demand.
According to U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
calculations, every 8.42 employees in the
warehousing and storage industry leads to a $1
million increase in nal output (combining again
both direct and indirect effects).
By taking 1,733 employees and dividing by 8.42, we
calculate an estimated increase in Final Demand of
$205 million. However, this represents the total, and
does not calculate the “leakage” of economic
activity that happens outside of the geographic
area. To calculate the impact on our geographic
area, we multiply by the Final Demand multiplier of
0.8516 to get a Final Demand Value Added $175.2
million per year.
Growth Projections
Based on estimates of growth at the facility, direct
employment is anticipated to increase from 1,077
Category Direct
Indirect & Induced
Total Multiplier
Employment (Full-Time Jobs) 1,077 656 1,733 1.61
Final Demand Value Added
($ Thousand)
64,100 111,100 175,200 1.81
To put this in perspective, the economic
impact to central Indiana of hosting:
The entire 2021
NCAA D1 Men’s
Basketball
Tournament
Gen Con
national
gaming
convention
$46.5 million
(estimated)
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$57.4 million
(estimated)
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Final Demand
Value Added:
$175.2 million per year
to 1,415 employees by the end of 2025.
Using the same calculations as above, this
would increase the total employment impact
in the region to 2,277 by 2025, and the Final
Demand Value Added to over $230 million per
year by 2025.
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8
‘March Madness Brings Big Impact to Central Indiana’ Inside Indiana Business, https://www.insideindianabusiness.com/articles/march-madness-brings-big-impact-to-central-indiana#:~:text=During%20its%20
State%20of%20Sports,including%20Bloomington%20and%20West%20Lafayette.
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‘Gen Con brings $57M to Indianapolis economy’ WTHR, https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/gen-con-2022-indianapolis-57-million-dollars-50-thousand-gaming/531-7d94caef-d299-4426-9ef2-db9b6d9b-
da2d.
Model Estimation
and Potential
Sources for Error
Economic impact studies require a
number of estimations and
approximations. For the purposes of
this study, multipliers and processes
are provided by the RIMS II.
All calculations are done by the
author. Where possible, conservative
estimates were used.
The following are areas of
potential error or bias in the calculations:
• This report relies on forecasts of employment and spending prior to
the facility being operational. As a result, the forecasted levels may
deviate from the estimates herein. Given the low level of
unemployment in Indiana, it is possible that hiring may be more
difcult than anticipated, and that employment levels may not reach
target levels due to economic conditions.
• Average wages were estimated based on market conditions. Tight
labor markets and inationary pressures could require higher wages
than anticipated, meaning the economic impact could be greater in
nominal terms.
• This model assumes that the majority of employees will live in Boone
County or one of the surrounding counties. It is likely that at least some
of the employees will come from a wider geographic area. Future
analysis that includes employee demographic data will help provide a
more accurate picture of the overall economic impact on the region.
• An assumption in RIMS models are that there are no supply
constraints in the market. In these models, prices are considered xed,
so that additional economic activity does not lead to higher prices and/
or wages. However, as of 2022, there are supply constraints in both the
labor market (low unemployment) and in the transportation
industry. SHEIN’s facility will modestly contribute to these shortages with
the planned hiring and demand for transportation services. However,
SHEIN is still small relative to the size of the Boone County and
surrounding area, so the price and/or wage effect is likely to be small.
• The model used in this research is a “nal output” model.
The SHEIN facility does not produce nal goods or services,
but rather supports a larger e-commerce operation. This report
estimates the value-added of goods/services based on BEA estimates.
This adds an additional layer of estimation in the process.
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Conclusion
The SHEIN warehouse facility in Whitestown, Indiana
will directly create more than 1,000 jobs in the rst year, and the
total economic impact in the same time period will be the creation
of more than 1,700 new jobs in the Central Indiana region.
The additional contribution to the Gross State Product of Indiana in
the rst year will be approximately $175 million per year once fully
operational. Further, planned growth will take this number above
$200 million by the end of 2025.
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Appendix A – Methodology
This appendix gives an overview of the methodology of the survey and the estimates for the indirect economic effects of the activity.
Methodology
The initial analysis relies heavily on projected
hiring/spending numbers provided by SHEIN. Actual
numbers will vary based on the growth of the facility,
the ability of the company to nd and hire workers, and
other factors.
Economic Impact Measures
This analysis is based on the RIMS II multipliers
produced by the Regional Product Division of the
Bureau of Economic Analysis using 2012 Benchmark
Input-Output (I-O) Table and 2020 regional data.
Multipliers are for Boone County, Indiana, and include
the surrounding counties.
The idea behind input-output modeling is that the
inter-industry relationships within a region largely
determine how that economy will respond to economic
changes. In an I-O model, the increase in demand
for a certain product or service causes a multiplier
effect - layers of effect that come in a chain reaction.
Increased demand for a product affects the
producer of the product, the producer’s employees, the
producer’s suppliers, the supplier’s employees, and so
on, ultimately generating a total effect in the economy
that is greater than the initial change in demand.
The ratio of that overall effect to the initial
change is called a regional multiplier and can
be expressed like this:
(Direct Effect + Indirect Effects +
Induced Effects) / (Direct Effect) =
Multiplier
Multipliers are industry and region specic.
Each industry has a unique output multiplier,
because each industry has a different pattern
of purchases from rms inside and outside of
the regional economy. (The output multiplier is
in turn used to calculate income and
employment multipliers.)
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Appendix A (Continued)
Key Terms
Direct Effects: Refers to the increase in nal demand or employment numbers in Indiana that can
be attributed specically to the SHEIN facility hiring workers and purchasing goods and services
from vendors.
Indirect Effects: A measure of the change in dollars or employment caused when the SHEIN facility
increases their purchases of goods and services from suppliers and, in turn, those suppliers purchase
more inputs and so on throughout the economy. For example, SHEIN buys inputs from a supplier. Those
suppliers buy electricity to power their plants, buy material inputs for their products, and employ people.
These transactions are the indirect ripple effects associated with the facility operation’s purchases.
Induced Effects: These reect the changes—whether in dollars or employment—that result from the
household spending of SHEIN employees and those of their suppliers. Induced spending will increase
or decrease as output changes along the economic supply chain. Those output changes also result
in changes in household income and spending of suppliers’ employees. Induced effects represent the
change in overall economic output and employment resulting from such household spending changes.
Total Effects: The total of all economic effects is the size of the economic impact and is the sum of the
direct, indirect, and induced effects.
Multiplier: The multiplier is the magnitude of the economic response in a particular geographic area
associated with a change—either an increase or a decrease—in the direct effects.
Final Demand Value Added: The total value of income generated from production, including payments
to labor, payments to government, and returns on investment. It is equivalent to gross domestic product.
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Appendix B – About the Author
Kyle J. Anderson, Ph.D. has been an economist at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana
University since 2008. He earned an MBA (1996) and Ph.D. (2009) from the university. In addition
to economic research, he is the faculty chair of the Kelley Evening MBA program.
Kelley Evening MBA Program
Ranked number one in the nation for academic quality by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Kelley
Evening MBA exible part-time program combines online and on-campus instruction.
Students can choose a general administration degree or specialize with one of four majors.
The Evening MBA is a 24-month part-time program and is designed to be completed while
students work full-time. Students can also customize their education to meet their specic
career needs with Kelley’s dual degree option.
The curriculum and classroom experiences in the Kelley Evening MBA Program are a blend of
structure and exibility, allowing students to gain a high-quality degree that leaves room for
work and personal commitments. Students can complete a general administration degree or
choose one of four majors: nance, management and entrepreneurship, marketing or supply
chain management. Dual degrees are also available for combining students’ MBA with one of
six other graduate degrees.
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Appendix C – Overview for Boone County, Indiana
People & Income Overview
(By Place of Residence) Value Rank in U.S.
Industry Overview, 2021
(By Place of Work) Value Rank in U.S.
Population (2021) 73,052 758 Covered Employment 37,720 596
Growth (%) since 2021 Census 29% 68 Avg Wage per Job $50,352 843
Households (2020) 25,822 797 Manufacturing:
% of All Jobs in County
8.6% 1,624
Labor Force (persons)
(Ann. Avg. 2021)
36,964 616 Avg Wage per Job $55,3222 1,372
Unemployment Rate
(Ann. Avg. 2021)
2.1 2,718 Transportation & Warehousing:
% of All Jobs in County
30.5% 6
Per Capita Personal Income
(2020)
$80,314 77 Avg Wage per Job $48,454 2,028
Median Household Income
(2020)
$92,302 90 Healthcare, Social Assist.:
% of All Jobs in County
8.1% 1,680
Poverty Rate (2020) 5.2 3,088 Avg Wage per Job $57,072 498
High School Diploma or More:
% of Adults 25+ (2020)
94.6% 208 Finance and Insurance:
% All Jobs in County
1.2% 2,472
Bachelor’s Degree or More:
% of Adults 25+ (2020)
50.8% 59 Avg Wage per Job $97,665 214
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This data come from StatsAmerica, a service of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley
School of Business. This initiative is funded in part by the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development
Administration. (Retrieved August 2022)
Learn more about SHEIN at SHEINGroup.com
