PHILADELPHIA-A new Dietz & Watson food warehouse and distribution center will be built here, and the company will not rebuild the Delanco, NJ, facility that burned last fall – despite a $3.1 million tax incentive offer to rebuild in New Jersey.
The cold cut producer, which has its headquarters in Philadelphia, will relocate 110 jobs from the former Delanco facility and retain nearly 700 jobs already in Philadelphia, after after an aggressive campaign to lure it do so by Pennsylvania authorities. (see previous story.)
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett announced that the company will build a new $50 million distribution center and “food campus” in the city's Tacony section, with the aid of $2.1 million in state grants and eligibility for up to $12 million in loans and other funding.
The 200,000-square-foot distribution center will rise adjacent to the headquarters Dietz & Watson has occupied for 75 years.
Dietz and Watson CEO Louis Eni said in a statement that the move represents “a tremendous opportunity for our family-owned company to grow in the city and state that has supported us for 75 years.” The company had long eyed the site beside its headquarters, but it was not previously available, Eni said.
“The people of Delanco, New Jersey, welcomed us and for that we will forever be grateful,” Eni said. “The fire was a tragedy and the resulting cleanup impacted a lot of our neighbors. We thank them for their patience and support. Our family thought long and hard about the decision to leave New Jersey. But in the end, we believe it's the right decision for our employees, our customers and for the future of our company.”
When the New Jersey Economic Development Authority made its tax break award, it estimated that the rebuilding project would have created 213 new jobs and would have retained 135 jobs in the state.
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