Manufacturer Slates New 100,000-SF Facility

What the Woodbury, NJ-based buyer has in mind for the site is a new plant that will expand the company's manufacturing capacity. The facility will be E.P. Henry's third such site--the company's existing plants are in Vineland, NJ and in East Coventry, PA.

Details of the new facility remain sketchy, and company officials will say only that it will be in the neighborhood of 100,000 sf and that it will create about 100 jobs over the next couple of years. Groundbreaking is expected to take place sometime this summer, with the plant slated to be in operation early next year. Company officials declined to release any cost figures.

The site is within the Borough Industrial Park, which the city began developing in the early 1990s with the help of some federal money. The intent was to provide an economic stimulus to a local economy stung by cutbacks at the nearby Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. The E.P. Henry project is the first one local officials have been able to attract to the site.

The land sale and subsequent plant involve all but a dozen or so acres of the 70-acre industrial park, according to city officials, who say that they will continue to pursue potential users for the rest of the acreage. Much of the park actually lies within the borders of neighboring Springfield Twp., although all of it is actually owned by the Borough of Wrightstown.

Borough Industrial Park is also in a state-designated redevelopment zone, allowing the community to conclude a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with E.P. Henry. According to state regulations, a company located in a redevelopment zone pays 2% of the total cost of its project directly to the local community.