Company Confirmed to Create Jobs at Frankfort’s Pumpkin Patch
It's been one of the best kept secrets in local government; but, word is now out about what company is planning to invest in the 5S Frankfort Business Park, also known as the Pumpkin Patch in Frankfort. A private business source that is working with the investor and has asked not to be identified has confirmed to WIBX that Tractor Supply Company is expected to begin work soon on constructing a distribution center for their northeast retail operations. Herkimer County officials would not confirm that Tractor Supply was indeed the company that is moving into the park. They are waiting for a joint announcement that will include the investor and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The announcement was expected to be made Friday in Utica; but, it was delayed by the Governor's office due to the national health care bill and NYS budget negotiations. Last night, during a public meeting the county did confirm that the new business will take up the remaining portion of the business park and will employ about 350 workers.
On Friday afternoon, Tractor Supply Company issued the following statement to WIBX:
“As previously disclosed, Tractor Supply Company plans to construct and open a new distribution center in the Northeast region to support its continued growth. While the location for this facility has yet to be finalized, once constructed, Tractor Supply expects to start shipping products to stores and direct to customers in late 2018.” - Tractor Supply Company
Tractor Supply Company is based out of Brentwood, Tennessee and was first established as a mail order parts business in 1938, according to their website. Today, the company is America's largest operator of farm stores and they currently have retail outlets in Herkimer, Utica and Rome, as well as more than 1700 other stores throughout the country. In 2004, Fortune magazine called them one of the fastest growing companies in America. Today, the publicly traded company (TSCO) continues to grow as they plan to open another 100 stores in 2017, according to their 'end of year' financial disclosure. They also own several stores across the country under the Pet Sense and Del's brand.
There's no official word on when the company's investment will be made official. Despite the fact that the Governor postponed his visit on Friday, a major announcement was actually made by Empire State Development President Howard Zemsky that Danish tech company, Danfoss Silicon Power of Denmark, had entered into an agreement with General Electric to operate a chip packaging facility at Quad C in Marcy, resulting in about 300 jobs over the next few years. Danfoss claims that phase one of the hiring process will begin next week and result in about 100 jobs initially. Danfoss will be taking up the entire Quad C facility.
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