A Georgia-based company will bring 130 new jobs to Claymont, Delaware, and invest more than $170 million over five years.
Agile Cold Storage plans to build a 275,000-square-foot cold-storage facility in the New Castle County city as it meets demand from North American food manufacturers, processors, and growers.
The project also will bring investment and industry to Claymont – a community still affected by past industrial closings – and support business at the Port of Wilmington and future operations at the proposed port expansion at Edgemoor.
Delaware Prosperity Partnership has worked with Agile Cold over the past year, and in late August supported Agile Cold’s request for Jobs Performance and Capital Expenditures grants from the Council on Development Finance. The grants provide up to $510,500 and $4.05 million, respectively, from the Delaware Strategic Fund.
Distribution of these grants is dependent upon the company meeting commitments as outlined to the CDF, which reviewed and approved Agile Cold’s request.
The company’s Agile Cold Claymont division will locate in First State Crossing, a brownfield property that previously was a steel mill, along Naamans Road. Employment opportunities will be available at the management and supervisor level, along with general laborers, forklift operators, inventory control, customer service and maintenance. More jobs could also become available through partner service providers.
Agile Cold specializes in blast freezing, layer/case picking, cross docking, export services, tempering and e-commerce and offers automation in warehouse receiving, storage and shipping and a multi-temperature storage network suitable for a wide variety of inventory.
The company, which was founded in 2020, operates two facilities in the Metro Atlanta area and is planning a third in Macon. Adding an automated multi-temperature warehouse in Delaware will allow Agile Cold to expand into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast markets and help meet growing proximity-related demands for fresh, refrigerated and frozen foods and more frequent deliveries.
Delaware Governor John Carney said the facility will create “good jobs and economic investment” in the city of roughly 15,300 people.
“Their operations will build on Delaware’s strong foundation in food manufacturing and transportation, helping our region’s supply chain,” Carney said.