Mayor on new center: “It represents 10,000 new visitors.”

With one snip at a traditional ribbon-cutting Tuesday, a corporate training center for Perdue Farms is now open.

Economic growth and development are areas of focus policy makers and business leaders, both nationally and internationally, have their eyes on.

Perdue Farms, one of the biggest employers on Delmarva, has setting up shop for their new training center in Downtown Salisbury off Poplar Hill Avenue. It's been named the Perdue Learning University.

The corporate training center will serve all associates with Perdue Farms, where Kathryn Danko-Lord serves as Senior Director of Learning and Development.

Danko-Lord describes the 5,000 square foot center as an "reinvestment" in their employees.

"Most of our classes will be leadership classes, team learning classes, project management but there will be associates that are on the floor, line leads for example, all the way through our vice presidents," she tells 47ABC. "So, it'll be a place where anybody can come and learn and grow."

Globally, Perdue employs more than 20,000 people and roughly 2,000 in Maryland alone.

According to Salisbury Mayor Jake Day, that makes it the largest corporation headquarters on Delmarva.

With it's new training center right in Downtown Salisbury, he says he's hopeful it will create more tourism.

"It represents 10,000 new visitors to the center of our city every single year. It represents 10,000 new pedestrians, and thousands of possible new cyclists," says Mayor Day.

Beyond its current employees, District 38C Delegate Mary Beth Carozza says this kind of center could serve as an investment for the future.

Delegate Carozza tells 47ABC, training centers like Perdue Learning University could be an incentive for the younger population to stay on the Eastern Shore.

"You're going to look at what Perdue has done today and say, 'Oh here's a company. They care about their workforce, and they're interested in providing the training and providing the continuing education'", she explains. "So, you could provide a leadership track with Perdue."

According to Perdue, they did have a training center on Albert Street at one point; however, it was not big enough for their needs.