OLYPHANT, Pa. — An aluminum can manufacturing plant is going up on the site of the former Cinram plant in Lackawanna County.
Gov. Tom Wolf announced that the CANPACK Group — an international company that makes aluminum and steel cans and glass bottles for food and beverages — plans to build a new facility on the site in Olyphant.
Cinram, which was once Specialty Records, closed in 2018. The building was demolished just a few weeks ago.
According to the governor, the new facility will create 400 jobs over the next three years.
"Excitement. It's going to be great for the area. Hopefully, it leads to a renaissance," said Vincenzo Cicco at Luigi's Pizza. "There's a lot of empty buildings, unfortunately, factories and warehouses that have closed throughout the years."
The company that purchased the property is called CANPACK. It's an international manufacturer of aluminum and steel cans and glass bottles.
"Hopefully, this will be a resurgence for the local economy. Hopefully, it's a testament to the good leadership in the area, that it's trying to attract good-paying jobs, and bring back the community."
The building that once housed Specialty Records, operated under several names over the years. At one time, it was one of the largest employers in Lackawanna County, but the workforce was much smaller by the time it finally closed in 2018.
Borough officials say the downtown scene noticed that loss of jobs.
"We're trying to maintain and dress up the downtown. Olyphant is one of the communities that actually has a downtown, so it comes at a good time," said C.J. Mustacchio, the borough manager and solicitor for Olyphant.
It's not only good timing for the borough's revitalization project, but also for small business owners, who have already had a tough year because of the pandemic.
"I'm hoping this thing is coming to an end. As this comes to an end, something new is coming in, building new jobs, so it's a good start," said Giancarlo Armenti, owner of Armenti's Pizzeria.
According to the governor's news release, CANPACK's new facility will be almost 1 million square feet, creating more than 400 executive, professional, and technical manufacturing jobs within three years.
"These are jobs which were not in the region here before. These are new jobs, according to our standards, they are fairly well-paid jobs."
Officials tell Newswatch 16 that Senator John Blake played a big role in attracting CANPACK to this location.
In a statement to Newswatch 16, Senator Blake said, "for generations, the site of this development has been a source of income, employment and pride for thousands of Lackawanna County families. I am thrilled that CANPACK is bringing hundreds of much-needed and good-paying jobs back to our region and, specifically to this expansive industrial site in Olyphant. I applaud the Wolf Administration and the Governor's Action Team for their work to attract CANPACK to our region and for again showing the value of public-private partnerships for our region, our residents and our economy. Thank you also to Olyphant Borough, Mid-Valley School District and the Lackawanna County Commissioners for their participation and cooperation in making this project possible."
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