This week in Pennsylvania, Universal Ingredients Shank’s (Shank’s) cut the ribbon on its $30.5 million headquarters expansion in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County. Announced by Governor Josh Shapiro in May 2023, the expansion project will create 83 new jobs and retain 234 jobs statewide.
Based in Lancaster County since its creation in 1899, Shank’s makes and distributes more than 2,400 products, including flavors, emulsions, botanical extracts, colors, and sauces for retail and food industry customers globally. As part of its expansion, Shank’s facility will support additional liquid and dry manufacturing, packaging and refrigerated storage.
“We are excited to announce the opening of our enhanced Universal Ingredients Shank’s campus. This will enable us to expand our product offerings to our customers, service additional markets, and provide us with beneficial operational efficiencies,” said George C. Freeman, President and CEO of Universal Corporation. “Our campus expansion will allow us to enhance our tea, coffee, and other botanical extracts as well as our customized blending capabilities through innovative solutions such as aseptic packaging. We would like to thank the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Community and Economic Development and Lancaster County for their support which helped make this project possible.”
Shank’s received a funding proposal from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) for a $332,000 Pennsylvania First grant and a $166,000 workforce development grant to train workers.
“Shank’s has a remarkable, 124-year history in Lancaster County and the Shapiro Administration is proud to support the company’s continued growth here in Pennsylvania,” said DCED Secretary Rick Siger. “We are aggressively attracting new businesses to the Commonwealth and are equally committed to retaining homegrown companies like Shank’s. These types of meaningful, strategic investments are helping to position Pennsylvania as an economic leader.”
Pennsylvania’s agribusiness, food, and beverage production industry is rapidly growing across the Commonwealth, with 140,000 jobs and $38.3 billion in output in 2021.
“We are excited to see food processing companies like Shank’s continue to invest in their Lancaster County operations,” said John Biemiller, Vice President, Business Retention and Expansion, Economic Development Company of Lancaster County. “These commitments of company capital help keep Lancaster’s food manufacturing facilities on the cutting edge of food production in North America.”
PIDA Loan Helps Bakery Grow In Allegheny County
In more food industry news, Mancini’s Bakery in Allegheny County has been approved for a new low-interest loan through the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA). The 10-year, $700,000 loan at a 5.25 percent fixed interest rate will help the company purchase new equipment that will increase production at its location in McKees Rocks. Mancini’s will create six new full-time jobs within three years and retain 50 existing jobs.
“Investing in great homegrown Pennsylvania companies like Mancini’s spurs our economy, creates and retains good-paying jobs, and helps position us as an economic powerhouse.”
— DCED Secretary Rick Siger
“Mancini’s is a family-owned, cornerstone business that has been making bread for the Pittsburgh area for almost a century,” said Secretary Siger. “This PIDA loan is providing the bakery with key resources to help increase production and continue to thrive and succeed in Allegheny County. Investing in great homegrown Pennsylvania companies like Mancini’s spurs our economy, creates and retains good-paying jobs, and helps position us as an economic powerhouse.”
Mancini’s Bakery will use the loan towards the purchase of a Rianta Slicer-Bagger. This piece of equipment is used to slice freshly baked loaves and rolls and package them with high efficiency, which will allow the company to package at least five times faster than the current manual process.
The company is also using the loan towards the purchase a Koenig Combination Line. This machine takes large chunks of proofed dough and performs all of the dividing, shaping, and molding processes and delivers the products, by conveyor, to screens which are proofed and loaded into the oven. This will allow the company to make three to five times more product per hour.
$15M Expansion Creates
100 New Jobs In PA
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PIDA provides low-interest loans and lines of credit for eligible businesses that commit to creating and retaining full-time jobs, as well as for the development of industrial parks and multi-tenant facilities. Loans can be used for land and building acquisitions; construction and renovation costs; machinery and equipment purchases; working capital and accounts receivable lines of credits; multi-tenant facility projects; and industrial park projects. So far in 2024, PIDA has approved $16,524,290 in low interest loans that have resulted in $26,993,509 in private investment and created 169 new full-time jobs and supported another 328 retained jobs.
