TimesLeader.com

Sweet deal: Tootsie coming here

Chicago candy maker to open distribution center in Humboldt Industrial Park.

By Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.com
Business Writer

HAZLE TWP. – The maker of Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops will soon be shipping candies from the Humboldt Industrial Park.

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Tootsie Roll Industries Inc. of Chicago purchased land and a building for $12.24 million late last month which it intends to use as its Northeast and Atlantic seaboard distribution point.

The move will create approximately 35 jobs and operations are expected to start sometime in late March.

The company listed the location, the area’s workforce and the Keystone Opportunity Zone program as determining factors in choosing the 19.4 acre site on Forest Road.

Luzerne County commissioners approved a seven-year extension of the site’s KOZ status. State, municipal and school district tax abatements would have expired in 2010 without the extension.

John Majors, Tootsie Roll’s vice president of distribution, said other communities offered KOZ benefits, but the availability of a building in addition to the incentives made the Hazle Township location more attractive.

He spent more than 10 days in Hazleton discreetly scouting out the area, according to a company press release Wednesday.

“We really wanted to make sure Hazleton was the right fit before we made our final decision, because once we locate somewhere, we’re there for the long term,” Majors said.

Additionally other company officials studied the area, its workforce and what it has to offer Tootsie Roll, said company president and chief operating officer Ellen Gordon.

The company’s purchase of the property shows it has a long-term commitment, added Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban.

Court records show Exeter 490 Forest LP, affiliated with the Exeter Property Group LP of Plymouth Meeting, sold the property to TRI Sales Co. of Chicago on Dec. 29.

Kevin O’Donnell, president of park owner CAN DO, said the KOZ incentives, an available building and partnerships with commercial real estate developers who construct buildings on speculation of leasing or selling them all factored in to the deal.

The real estate firm in charge of site selection looked in five states over nine months before choosing the Hazle Township property. Todd Hughes, assistant vice president of Jones Lang LaSalle, said foremost among the deciding factors was the cooperation between the county, Hazle Township and Hazleton Area School District in expediting the tax incentives.

“This really made closing the project possible,” Hughes said in a prepared statement.