Cumberland County Improvement Authority Breaks Ground for Innovative Food Specialization Center
New Jersey Community Capital’s THRIVE South Jersey Program
Provides in Part Funding for $10 Million Project
(BRIDGETON, NJ – October 26, 2017) – The Cumberland County Improvement Authority broke ground on a new, 32,000-square-foot facility that will provide dedicated manufacturing space for food processors, that can be outfitted to meet their specific production needs. This flexible space will be utilized by companies that “graduate” from the Rutgers FIC business incubator program, or as an R&D and/or Manufacturing facility for local, regional, national and international companies looking to establish a business operation in the Cumberland County region.
Funding for the $10.5 million project will be provided in part by TD Bank and New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) through its New Market Tax Credit (NMTC) and THRIVE South Jersey programs. THRIVE South Jersey deploys flexible, affordable capital and technical assistance to generate quality jobs and improve economic opportunities across Cumberland, Gloucester, Salem, and Western Atlantic counties. NJCC partnered with the Pascale Sykes Foundation in December of 2014 to launch THRIVE, an economic initiative developed to address the challenges of poverty and unemployment in the targeted four-county region as part of Pascale Sykes’ South Jersey Strengthening Families Initiative. Through NJCC’s NMTC program, $135 million has been deployed into transformative projects in low income communities.
On hand for the groundbreaking ceremony were Jerry Velazquez, President/CEO, Cumberland County Improvement Authority, H. Louis Cooperhouse, Executive Director, Rutgers Food Innovation Center, New Jersey State Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher, New Jersey 1st District Assemblymen Bruce Land and Bob Andrzejczak, Freeholders Joe Derella and Carol Musso, Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly and Laura Wallick, Program Manager, THRIVE South Jersey, New Jersey Community Capital.
The Cumberland County Improvement Authority broke ground on Thursday, October 26, 2017, for an innovative, $10 million Food Specialization Center. Shown here from left to right are H. Louis Cooperhouse, Executive Director, Rutgers Food Innovation Center, Jerry Velazquez, President/CEO, Cumberland County Improvement Authority, Carol Musso, Board of Chosen Freeholders, Douglas Fisher, New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture, Stephen M. Sweeney, New Jersey Senate President, Joe Derella, Cumberland County Freeholder Director, Albert Kelly, Mayor of Bridgeton, Bruce Land, Assemblyman NJ 1st Legislative District, and Bob Andrzejczak, Assemblyman NJ 1st Legislative District
The Cumberland County Improvement’s new 32,000-square-foot was made possible through funding by the Cumberland County Improvement Authority, U.S. Economic Development Authority, Cumberland Empowerment Zone Corporation, TD Bank and New Jersey Community Capital. Shown here from left to right are Jennifer Starkey, Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager, TD Bank, H. Louis Cooperhouse, Executive Director, Rutgers Food Innovation Center, Jerry Velazquez, President/CEO, Cumberland County, Laura Wallick, Program Manager, THRIVE South Jersey, New Jersey Community Capital, Gregory Carlisle, Senior Vice President and Regional Vice President, TD Bank, and Bridgeton Mayor Albert Kelly.
