When Alacer Corp. CEO Ron Fugate began scouting locations for his companys new manufacturing center, he reviewed potential sites from North Carolina to Northern New York. He finally settled on Carlisle, an unassuming Central PA trucking hub, for a number of reasons. Located along key transportation routes, the Carlisle facility will be able to offer one-day delivery of the company’s flagship product–the ubiquitous drink supplement Emergen-C–to 40 percent of its customers. And, as PA has stepped up efforts to attract manufacturers, Alacer was able to borrow money at an attractive rate. But perhaps equally important, Fugate used to live in Central PA and, frankly, he missed it.
Central Pennsylvania offers a well-educated workforce with a great work ethic and values, Fugate says. I lived and worked in the region earlier in my career so I am familiar with the area. Of course I was an East Shore guy, living in Hershey, so we rarely ventured across the river to the world on the West Shore.
When he finally took that trip to the West Shore, he discovered a community still very familiar with product transport and manufacturing. And with the new production center creating 66 new positions starting in August, Cumberland County officials were able to offer Alacer a $10 million tax-free financing package, helping the California firm save over the regions already low operating costs.
With the center scheduled to begin production in December, now comes the fun part: the hiring. Alacer expects to begin taking on new positions in August.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Cumberland County Industrial Development Authority threw their support behind the project, enabling Alacer to borrow money at an attractive rate, says Fugate. Now, we will be taking advantage of PA help with recruiting and employee training support as well.
Source: Ron Fugate, Alacer Corp.
Writer: John Steele