DUNMORE, Pa. — For more than 60 years, Maid-Rite Specialty Foods has operated in Lackawanna County, making meat products and shipping them all across North America.
Gov. Josh Shapiro's office announced that it will help the company continue to grow.
The company is working on an expansion worth more than $21 million. and the state granted it more than $450,000 for the first phase of the project.
"The Shapiro administration wants Pennsylvania to be a global leader in economic development and supporting projects. Companies like this are helping to make that a reality," said Brent Vernon, executive director of Gov. Shapiro's Action Team.
"With this new line putting in and then with the expansion, a fourth expansion down the road. This is all good news for our employees and for the company itself," said David Hollander, Maid-Rite Specialty Foods director of human resources.
Two years ago, flames tore through the Maid-Rite production building near Waverly, destroying equipment and all of the products in cold storage.
Director of Operations Kurt Sorensen says they were able to save some equipment and bring it to Dunmore, but it wasn't enough to keep up.
"We lost about 33 percent of our production capabilities and capacity, so our customers were hurting as a result of not having the supply chain filled, but we've been able to bounce back," said Sorensen.
Construction is already underway. Maid-Rite employees showed off where the new equipment will go in a part of the plant previously used for refrigeration and storage.
"We need to convert it into a processing area. So, it's going to take us from now to roughly April or May of 2024. And then we'll be ready to go and convert to a processing area," Sorensen said.
Maid-Rite also received funding for its employees to receive training, and the company will need more people.
"For us, with the expansion, we need new people, and we need some expertise, and we're going to be bringing in new jobs into northeastern Pennsylvania," said Hollander.
The second phase of the project will add cold storage to the plant in Dunmore.