Home Depot to create 350 jobs

By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.comTimes Leader Staff Writer

and Jerry Lynott jlynott@timesleader.comBusiness Writer

Home Depot will join its competitor in the CenterPoint Commerce and Trade Park and bring at least 350 jobs to the area with the aid of state funds.

Gov. Ed Rendell, left, listens to Misericordia University President Michael MacDowell speak Friday about the state’s $2.75 million commitment to the college’s School of Health Sciences.

Pete G. Wilcox / The Times Leader

The home improvement retailer will move into a 465,600-square-foot distribution center in the fast growing park’s West section by the end of next year.

Lowe’s opened its 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center in the park’s East section in January.

Gov. Ed Rendell, joined by state legislators and economic development officials, delivered $1.35 million in tax credits and grants to the Home Depot project in Pittston Township. He also came with state funds for Misericordia University and another park tenant, QuietFlex Manufacturing Co., for a total of more than $4.4 million for the local projects.

Home Depot spokeswoman Sarah Molinari said the new building is part of a network of 20 “rapid deployment centers” the company is rolling out nationwide.

“It’s a fast-flow facility,” Molinari said, in which products will be trucked in and, in a quick turnaround, shipped out to resupply stock in a more than 100-store service area in the Northeast.

Nearly all of the merchandise is on the store floor and very little inventory in storage. “This will help our stores to replenish the items quickly and in the amounts they need,” Molinari said.

To date, six of the centers have been built and the newest recently opened in Valdosta, Ga. The company will invest between $10 million and $11 million in the local project that will be built on a 50-acre site.

Hiring for the center should begin next year and most of the jobs will be full-time positions that provide comprehensive benefits, success sharing payouts and career building opportunities, Molinari said.

Quietflex of Houston, Texas, moved into an 80,880-square-foot section of a building in the park last August and created 55 jobs.

The company looked in six other states for a site to serve its Northeast customers. The maker of flexible air ducts for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems will receive $236,550. An additional 35 jobs are likely within a year.

Mike Rossman, director of the Governor’s Action Team, worked on bringing QuietFlex and Home Depot to the park.

Rossman said $36,550 of the state funds will be a job training assistance package. The remaining $200,000 is in the form of an opportunity grant.

The state money will complement what QuietFlex brought to the deal.

“For our investment we’re seeing a significantly greater leveraged amount of private investment and nearly 60 good paying manufacturing jobs new to the area,” Rossman said.

In the past five months 700 jobs have been created in CenterPoint and 937,000 square-feet of new deals, added developer Robert Mericle.

One of them is the Emery-Waterhouse Company sales and distribution center. The distributor of lawn and garden products and various hardware items moved into the other half of the building QuietFlex occupies. Based in Portland, Maine, the company occupies 135,991 square feet of building space.

The largest share of state funds went to Misericordia. The school in Dallas received $2.75 million for its ongoing move into the former Frontier Communications Solutions building on Lake Street. It will house the College of Health Sciences, just a few blocks from the main campus.

The school closed on the sale of the property Thursday and the state funds will go toward the $1.2 million purchase price and for renovations on the 40,000 square foot building.

In addition to the newest funds, the school received $750,000 in the local share of gambling revenues allocated by the state Department of Community and Economic Development last month.

Misericordia president Michael A. McDowell estimated the overall cost of the project at $5.5 million and said the school is approximately $900,000 short of its goal.

Still he welcomed the vital assistance from the state.

“It’s terribly important. In this day and age you just can’t raise this kind of money privately,” McDowell said. “We just couldn’t do it without them.”

The College of Health Sciences offers academic programs in medical imaging, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, speech and language pathology and sonography.

Jerry Lynott, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570 829-7237. Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, can be contacted at 570 829-7269.