It’s official.
Food and beverage packaging manufacturer Dart Container Corporation is on track to open its first Delaware facility. The one-million-square-foot distribution center near Delaware City will employ 60-70 people when it opens later this year.
Dart is the maker of red Solo cups, plates and other items.
“The move to Delaware will enable us to consolidate inventory into a single location that serves our East Coast customers more efficiently from a trucking and logistics standpoint,” Dart CEO Jim Lammers stated.
The distribution center building off Route 13 has been under construction for some time, but no formal announcement had been made.
Dart earlier will close its Havre de Grace and Hampstead, MD, distribution centers after shifting inventory to a Delaware facility. Dart joins Dot Foods, which opened a distribution center a short distance away off Wrangle Hill Road (Route 72).
Dot breaks down large food shipments for redistribution to stores and foodservice companies.
About 15 percent of the 80-plus Maryland Dart employees are expected to transfer to the Delaware distribution center. Dart has begun recruiting for the remaining open positions at www.dart.jobs.).
“We’ll handle the closures of our Maryland facilities with compassion and provide severance and outplacement assistance to our people,” Lammers said. “The employees affected by these strategic but difficult decisions deserve our thanks for their many contributions.” Dart’s manufacturing facility in Federalsburg, MD, which employs more than 650 people, remains open.
The coronavirus pandemic is not expected to delay the opening of the New Castle distribution center. Dart has implemented comprehensive protocols at all facilities to maintain a safe and healthy work environment for employees, vendors, and visitors and will continue to use the same approach when scaling up Delaware operations, a release from the Michigan-based company stated.
