Federal funding promises to bring over 700 jobs to Harrington at new industrial park

HARRINGTON, Del. – Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester in Harrington today highlighted how federal funds are working to bring local manufacturing jobs to Harrington Delaware.
The project centers around giving an industrial park the foundational elements it needs to get manufacturers interested in moving their operations to the area, by helping to put federal dollars into a project that had already seen substantial private and local investment.

“It’s over $5 million and that’s a lot for a small town of 3700 people to be able to provide on its own even with the support of the other two landowners, so we’ve been able to obtain $1,000,000 in site readiness funds from the Division of Small Business, from the state and are looking for help federally,” said Harrington City Planner Jeremy Rothwell.

Rothwell tells us the project requires connecting 3 separate parcels of land, upgrading the infrastructure of the building to add water, electricity, and even roads and freight rail access to help ship any products manufactured in the completed facility.

“Our portion of the support is focused on the infrastructure and connecting them to rail, connecting them to access to a highway so that people can make the products and then get them out the door so that we can lower the cost of things for everyday individuals, but also create good-paying jobs right here in Harrington and in Kent County,” said Delaware House District At Large Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester.

Blunt Rochester tells 47ABC, between efforts from the Delaware’s congressional delegation they hope to have the project fully funded and make the park the perfect place for businesses looking to move to the area to hit the ground running.

“It potentially could bring 750 great paying jobs to this area. But at the same time, it could expand the manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics sectors of our state and therefore make us strong as a country,” Blunt Rochester said.