CLAYMONT – Redevelopment of Claymont is bubbling to the surface – PepsiCo has secured $2.8 million in taxpayer-backed grants to lease and revamp the First State Crossing warehouse to retain scores of jobs and move some to Delaware from surrounding states.
The Strategic Fund Grant, approved by the Council on Development Finance (CDF) Monday morning, will spend the grant on improvements to the 359,000 square-foot warehouse built by First Industrial Realty Trust off Naamans Road, while working to retain and add jobs in the First State.
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PepsiCo Global Real Estate Director of Economic Development Alison Benton explains how many employees work their way up at the company. | DBT PHOTO BY KATIE TABELING[/caption]
The $2.8 million grant breaks down to $484,000 in a job retention grant, as well as $543,000 in a job creation grant to support the relocation of 77 jobs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as $1.8 million for a capital expenditure grant. Paid through taxpayer funds, the $2.8 million grant is the second largest approved by the CDF this year, dwarfed by the $14 million in funds granted for Incyte to move to the former Bracebridge buildings in downtown Wilmington.
PepsiCo, which has a distribution warehouse off of Governor Printz Boulevard in Wilmington as well as smaller product exchange centers across New Castle County, plans to relocate 216 people from the northwest Wilmington plant and some jobs from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. PepsiCo has had a presence in northern Delaware since at least the 1980s, with both the main warehouse near Edgemoor and the smaller warehouses on the outskirts of Wilmington.
“This would be almost double the size of our existing warehouse [in Wilmington], and we’re really excited to do that and get to a higher level,” PepsiCo Global Real Estate Director of Economic Development Alison Benton told CDF on Monday morning. “We already have the trucks in the parking lot, ready to go.”
To help bring the plan to reality, the soft drink and snack company will sign a lease for 15 years with First Industrial Realty Trust with plans to add another 77 employees from existing warehouses in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, bringing the total workforce at the Claymont facility to 293 people by 2027.
These jobs would range from warehouse loaders, drivers, merchandisers, sales representatives and managers with the average salary paying out at around $72,000 with benefits. About 54 of the 77 relocated jobs would include drivers and merchandisers. PepsiCo redacted the salary breakdown when it came to each specific job category, after review from the state's legal counsel in the Delaware Business Times’ Freedom of Information Act request.
But Benton noted that PepsiCo, which has name brand recognition across the world with its drinks like Gatorade, Pepsi, Aquafina and snacks like Doritos and Frito Lays heavily invests in workforce development in many of its warehouses across the country.
“We have huge support for our employees to move up the career ladder and most of our site directors and facility managers started in the warehouse. There’s already good success stories,” Benton said.
PepsiCo has been exploring other sites with more floor space, but representatives wanted to stay close to its existing warehouse in northeast Wilmington because of its long-tenured employees - some employees in facilities on the West Coast have worked as much as 50 years with the company. The new
Claymont Train Station that opened in 2023 was also a big draw, as PepsiCo has found that if sites are close to public transportation, it makes it easier to attract and retain staff.
PepsiCo plans to invest $15 million to renovate the building for specific needs, although officials declined to comment on those needs. Public documents also showcase an additional $47 million investment in automation equipment to support the future of the Claymont PepsiCo site which will be focused on moving soft-drink products in and around the state.
Unlike Coca-Cola, Pepsi has in-house bottling plants like Pepsi Bottling Ventures housed in Harrington and the company will continue relying on these smaller sites to bottle the soft drinks before distribution. At the Claymont facility, 53-foot trailers that move Pepsi liquid products - ranging from water and Starbucks drinks to soft and sports drinks - would be moved out and redistributed to other plants across the country through storage at smaller warehouses, like the 14,000 square foot-facilities in New Castle County.
After Agile Cold Storage opened in Claymont, Pepsi choosing to relocate to the town signals that the Claymont Renaissance Development Corporation (CRDC)'s efforts to draw major projects to the area and revive the area that has been struggling since the closure of its largest employer Evraz steel mill in 2013.
"The CRDC could not be more thrilled that Pepsi chose Claymont. We welcome the jobs being brought here and the possibilities for future growth," CRDC Executive Director Brett Saddler told the Delaware Business Times. "By having an internationally respective company known for giving back to the communities in which they are based is a win for Claymont."
Editor's note: a previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the Division of Small Business redacted projected salary information for employees. PepsiCo redacted the salary breakdown when it came to each specific job category, after review from the state's legal counsel.
