With designs on growth and hiring 150 people in the next few years, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Deputy Secretary Dorothy Kaplan helped cut the ribbon on a new Hazleton PA facility that will house one of the nation’s premier refrigerated warehouse companies.
United States Cold Storage celebrated the opening of its new 215,000-square-foot facility at Humboldt Industrial Park recently. The company has plans to expand the operation to 600,000-plus square feet and employ more than 150 people in the next few years. Thirty people now work at the facility.
“Prudent, strategic investment in our people, our businesses, and our communities is more important than ever if we are to come out of this recession with a bounce,” Kaplan said. “We have to be ready to take advantage of opportunities as they appear and create our own opportunities. This is what we are doing with our investment in United States Cold Storage.”
United States Cold Storage has 35 facilities in 12 states across the nation and employs more than 1,600 people. In addition to its newest Hazleton facility, the company has a facility in the Lehigh Valley. Pennsylvania has invested in both ventures.
The Greater Hazleton Community Area New Development Organization (CAN DO), a non-profit industrial and economic development corporation, helped United States Cold Storage secure a $370,000 Infrastructure Development Program grant for construction of a road in Humboldt Industrial Park. A loan and grant package from the Business in Our Sites program, totaling $4.2 million, also assisted in site preparation and land development to transform the location from a brownfield to a shovel-ready site.
Kaplan said because Humboldt Industrial Park is in a Keystone Opportunity Zone, and its strategic location to Interstates 81 and 80, it is poised to continue to attract companies such as United States Cold Storage.
The United States Cold Storage facility in Hazleton was designed for high-volume distribution of refrigerated and frozen food products to grocery chains and restaurants throughout the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. This facility is using an energy-efficient carbon dioxide cascade refrigeration system designed to reduce the impact on the environment and increase energy efficiency.
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