Publish Date : 12-Oct-2014
Governor Tom Corbett today joined Dietz & Watson President & CEO Louis Eni, Philadelphia Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger, City Councilman Bobby Henon and other local officials to break ground for the Philadelphia-based, fourth generation family-owned food manufacturer’s expansion that will nearly double its footprint in the Tacony section of Philadelphia. The expansion is projected to add 158 new jobs and retain 691 jobs. “Dietz & Watson is another Pennsylvania success story; it’s a company that is expanding and creating jobs right here in our commonwealth,” Gov. Corbett said. “By making strategic investments and working with local partners, we are encouraging job creators to ‘Make-It-In-PA,’ grow our economy, and join us to build a stronger Pennsylvania.”
Dietz & Watson, a national producer and distributor of deli meats and cheeses, in conjunction with Black Bear Distribution, will invest more than $50 million to create its new Tacony food campus by constructing a 200,000-square-foot distribution center, enhancing its corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility and building a new fleet-maintenance facility. Dietz & Watson is one of Pennsylvania’s largest food manufacturers, with products sold at nearly 6,000 retail locations all across Pennsylvania. The new food campus will allow Dietz & Watson to prepare hundreds of products in Tacony and distribute those delicacies to customers across the country – all from the same location that has served as its headquarters for more than half of its 75 years in business. A state-of-the-art conveyer system will efficiently transfer food from its kitchens directly to new storage facilities, eliminating more than 200 weekly truck trips over the Delaware River, reducing congestion and pollution.
Dietz & Watson will add 48 manufacturing, sales and administrative jobs and Black Bear Distribution, LLC (Black Bear), an affiliated logistics firm established by Dietz & Watson, will relocate 110 jobs from Delanco, New Jersey, in the wake of a devastating fire in September 2013 that destroyed the company’s national distribution center. “Philadelphia has been Dietz & Watson’s home for 75 years, so it’s only appropriate that when we looked for a location to rebuild our distribution center we looked no further than this great city that has supported us since the very beginning,” said Louis Eni, President & CEO of Dietz & Watson. “This new ‘food campus’ right here in Tacony will allow us to operate more efficiently, so that we can better prepare and distribute the hundreds of delicious Dietz & Watson products to our customers all across the U.S. We thank Gov. Corbett, Mayor Nutter and all those who worked so hard to allow us to grow right here in Philadelphia.”
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