A custom and private-label food maker based in Carson, Calif., Two Chefs on a Roll started scouting sites more than a year ago for an East Coast manufacturing operation to serve its restaurant and retail customers who themselves are expanding into the East.
The company looked at sites in Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina before finding what Ms. Daniel, co-founder of Two Chefs on a Roll, called the "ideal location" in Jessup.
But it was a $1.35 million incentive package from the state of Pennsylvania that made the $3.3 million project possible.
"We've been wanting to grow to the East Coast for a number of years and trying to figure out how to make it happen. We're really thrilled we can make it happen," Ms. Daniel said Saturday at the Oppenheim Building, where Gov. Ed Rendell announced $3.6 million in state assistance for her company and four others.
The commonwealth's aid will leverage $5.3 million in private sector investment that will, in total, create 463 jobs in Lackawanna County by 2010 and retain 85 others, Mr. Rendell said.
In outlining the five projects, Mr. Rendell said one of the factors cited by each of the companies for its interest in the region was the workforce. The governor said he always believed that to be one of the area's greatest assets.
"So the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania have themselves to credit for so much of this," Mr. Rendell said.
Two Chefs on a Roll, whose funding package includes a $1.1 million loan for machinery and equipment, plans at least 73 jobs at the 13,000-square-foot plant it will lease in the Jessup Small Business Center. David Trinkle, the company's chief financial officer, said the facility will produce dips and sauces.
Other projects receiving state assistance: ¦
New Mayflower Manufacturing Corp., which produces uniforms and other apparel, has already filled 96 of 110 new jobs it has committed to creating within three years. The $209,500 package from the state will help the company purchase equipment and train workers at its leased facility in Old Forge. The total project cost is $600,000.
Northeast Laminated Glass Corp., a start-up company specializing in custom-laminated products for the hurricane and blast-protection markets, will create 80 manufacturing jobs at the Valley View Business Park in Jessup, with 30 people to be hired by Oct. 1. The state is providing $1.44 million toward the $3.3 million project.
TMR Inc., a public opinion polling and marketing research firm, will retain 25 jobs and create 50 new positions at its leased facility on Stafford Avenue after relocating its Colorado operations to Scranton. State funding of $197,500 will help the company purchase new equipment as part of a $1 million expansion.
Oxford Management Services, which recently relocated from a 900-square-foot office in Archbald to a 7,300-square-foot space in the Oppenheim Building, will retain 60 jobs and create 150 new ones as part of a $734,500 expansion. The company, a third-party collection agency, has already hired 25 of the new workers. State aid totals $417,500.
