Greater Hazleton’s growing food industry cluster was featured in the December 2009 issue of Global Corporate Xpansion magazine, a quarterly magazine for executives and site selectors planning to relocate a facility or expand operations.

The Hazleton area appears in a story entitled “Food Preparation’s Innovations.”

“A large food processing region located on the Eastern Seaboard of the country, home to manufacturing operations such as The Hershey Company, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Bimbo Bakeries, is Hazleton, Pa.,” the article states. “[Greater Hazleton] has taken advantage of a food processing initiative created by CAN DO, Inc., which was created to assist companies in all aspects of their operations […] Here, distribution, logistics and low operating costs are just some of the advantages that help companies in Greater Hazleton compete with other markets, ” says Joseph Lettiere, vice president of sales and marketing, CAN DO.

CAN DO has been targeting the food-processing/food-distribution industry as an area of future growth, Lettiere explained.

“Companies in the food-processing industry find that the Hazleton area is the perfect location for many reasons, including our transportation network, competitive operating environment, highly rated workforce and the availability of training programs,” Lettiere said.

Those companies can take advantage of many other benefits of Greater Hazleton, including industry partnerships that help companies with a variety of needs, such as workforce development and training programs. For example, the Food Processing Industry Partnership (FPIP) was created as a joint effort among the Luzerne/Schuylkill, Lackawanna, Northern Tier and Pocono Counties Workforce Investment Boards with the support of PA CareerLink. The partnership fosters collaboration with the food-processing industry partners, workforce investment agencies, local economic development groups and educational institutions.

“The strength of the food-processing cluster is evidenced by the number of companies that have chosen to locate to the Hazleton area, such as Fresh Start Bakeries, Tootsie Roll, The Hershey Company, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), Cargill Meat Solutions, Bimbo Bakeries, Gonnella Frozen Products, U.S. Cold Storage and Romark Logistics,” Lettiere said. “We encourage other food-related companies to learn more about Greater Hazleton and the business benefits of locating here.”

CAN DO continually works to assist companies in food processing and food distribution. The organization has doubled the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant in Humboldt Industrial Park to one million gallons a day. Other sections of Humboldt connect with the Greater Hazleton Joint Sewer Authority’s system, which can process nearly 9 million gallons per day.

Humboldt Industrial Park also has an ample water capacity to serve most food-processing companies. CAN DO recently supplemented its existing water capacity through an interconnection agreement with the Hazleton City Authority. This enables CAN DO and HCA to accommodate users who have larger water requirements.

To learn more about how to locate in Greater Hazleton, contact Lettiere at (570) 455-1508.