Chobani and Burlington to invest $1.6B in Pennsylvania, adding 3,000 jobs
What's the deal? Pennsylvania landed two major corporate investments in three days, with yogurt maker ChobaniDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and discount retailer Burlington StoresDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → together pledging nearly 3,000 jobs over the next five years.
Burlington first: Governor Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker announced Thursday that Burlington Stores will relocate its headquarters to the Schuylkill Yards complex in West Philadelphia. The retailer is putting in $370 million, alongside a $30 million state investment and a $7 million forgivable loan from the City of Philadelphia.
Shapiro called it "the largest headquarters relocation to the city in years." The move is expected to create at least 2,000 jobs, with an average salary of about $125,000 a year.
Chobani's play: Two days earlier, Shapiro was in the Lehigh Valley to announce a $1.2 billion investment by Chobani, its first dairy manufacturing operation in the state. The company acquired a 1.5 million-square-foot facility in Lehigh County and expects to create 900 full-time jobs over five years.
When fully operational, the plant will process more than three billion pounds of Pennsylvania milk annually — nearly one-third of all milk produced in the commonwealth. Officials called it the largest private-sector investment in the state's agricultural history.
Why now? Shapiro is in the final stretch of his reelection campaign and has leaned on the state's economy as a sign that Pennsylvania is "open for business."
He said the state has worked with the private sector to create 29,000 new jobs and secure over $43 billion in economic growth. "A big part of that is because of our hard-nosed competitive approach to economic development," Shapiro said.
What's the endgame? For Parker, the win is about more than headcount. "Job creation is important, but we have to be creating the kind of jobs that will put people on a path to self-sufficiency," she said, pointing to homeownership and dignity for Philadelphians.
The signal: The back-to-back announcements show states leaning on direct incentives — grants, forgivable loans, and matched investment — to court corporate relocations and manufacturing. With $1.6 billion in combined private capital and public backing, Pennsylvania is positioning itself as a competitive destination for both agriculture and retail headquarters.
Read more: cityandstatepa.com
Image credit: relux.
