3,850 jobs may eventually come to South Jersey waterfront

Holtec International said Monday that its new greenfield manufacturing facility and design center for its modular nuclear reactor could bring up to 3,000 jobs to Camden over the next five years.

To make room for Holtec on the Camden waterfront, Holt Logistics Corp. said it has entered into a partnership with the South Jersey Port Corporation (SJPC) for the construction of a new marine terminal in Paulsboro, Gloucester County that is also expected to generate hundreds of jobs. Holt will relinquish some of its space in Camden to Holtec as part of the arrangement.

Last week, Holtec, a power plant supplier, received $260 million in tax credits from New Jersey state officials to bring the facility to Camden. New Jersey officials said that Holtec would bring 395 jobs, including 235 new ones and 160 moving from Evesham, to Camden’s waterfront.

But on Monday, Holtec dramatically increased those estimates. It said the local craft labor employment in the plant will approach 2,000 in the first five years of operation and 1,000 professionals within five years after it opens in 2018. So the full effect of the potential job growth will not be felt for nine years.

Holtec said it signed a 50-year lease (with automatic renewals) with the South Jersey Port Corp. The facility will include more than 500,000 square feet of fabrication, machining, and staging space served by cranes with up to 400 ton capacity and another 100,000 square feet structure housing the “test loop, laboratory, and training facility.” It will occupy approximately 47 acres in the southern end of Camden along the Delaware waterfront with access to a contiguous deep water port. Holtec said a new rail spur will connect the facility to the Conrail system for rail transport of fabricated equipment.

Work on the facility will begin immediately with the goal to commission it in mid-2018. More immediately, Holtec said construction efforts at the site will create thousands of jobs in the local economy.

“We hope that our investment in Camden will help the city regain its faded industrial glory by becoming the manufacturing hub for the array of equipment and systems patented by Holtec and used by scores of Holtec’s clients around the world,” the company said in a statement.

Holtec CEO Krishna Singh narrowed the company’s options for the facility to Camden and Charleston, S.C. Receiving the $260 million in tax credits was key to the company’s decision to make a capital investment and select Camden, according to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority. New Jersey officials said Charleston would be a lower cost option without the tax credits.

New Jersey officials have estimated that the project would have a net benefit to the state of $155,520 over a 35-year period.

This is the second deal that lured a business to Camden via tax credits in as many months. The Philadelphia 76ers were approved for $82 million in tax credits in June to build a new practice facility and headquarters on the waterfront.

Gov. Chris Christie and other state officials were in South Jersey Monday promoting the Holtec move and Holt Logistics building a $170 million terminal at the old BP refinery site in Paulsboro — which is expected to create 850 permanent jobs when fully completed next year. Holt provides transportation and logistics management solutions in segments of the transportation industry such as truck and rail transportation, marine terminal services, warehousing and logistics management.

As part of the deal with the SJPC, Holt will relinquish an important portion of the Pier 5 port facility at the Broadway Marine Terminal in Camden in exchange for the opportunity at the vacant site in Paulsboro, which encompasses 150 acres and could expand to 190 acres. New Jersey officials issued $170 million in bonds to fund land and infrastructure improvements to the site.

Holt said it will initially invest in excess of $10 million at the site, which represents the first phase of a private investment. As the facilities and surrounding industrial development areas reach their full potential, Holt anticipates larger investments into the port facility.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal