Riverwalk & Economic Successes

The Riverwalk Project in Penns Grove is strongly supported by the local, county, and state governments.  It entails a $65-million, 195,500 sq.ft. development, will feature a museum, offices, restaurants and shops. It is scheduled to open in November of this year with 60 employees. Carneys Point and Penns Grove citizens often come by to check on the progress of this exciting development center that will soon be the heart of the Penns Grove redevelopment district.

A review of recent public documents reveals that payrolls in the Salem Labor Area contracted by 500 jobs to a level of 23,800 from May 2008 through August 2008, based on not seasonally adjusted data.  Employment in the county decreased at a rate of -2.1 percent, faster than the state’s employment decrease of -0.6 percent over the same period.  All of the job loss over the quarter was recorded in the public sector (-500) as private sector employment was unchanged. Lower employment at the local level was responsible for the overall drop in government, reflective of typical seasonal patterns for school employees.  From August 2007 to August 2008, total nonfarm employment in the Salem Labor area rose by 200 jobs (0.8%). In comparison, the state’s employment level declined by 0.3 percent. The service-providing and goods-producing sectors contributed equally to the over-all increase in employment. Professional and business services and other services had identical increases, (+100 jobs) while retail trade was the only supersector posting a loss (-100 jobs). Manufacturing added (+100) jobs over the year. In the Salem Labor Area the unemployment rate rose from 5.1 percent in August 2007 to 7.0 percent  in August 2008, based on seasonally adjusted data.  This follows the same trend as the state which increased from 4.2 percent to 5.9 percent over the same period, after a five year high.

In the short term, the Salem Labor area should add jobs upon the completion of several ongoing projects: DuPont Company’s Chambers Works located in Deepwater (Pennsville Township) has invested several million dollars to improve the sites infrastructure. Twenty three employees have been hired and six more are needed.  Chambers Works manufactures approximately 400 products for 17 global markets.   Garden State Freezers and Cold Storage Inc., the largest importer of meat in the United States, plans to open a 400,000-sq.ft building in the Gateway Business Park near Pedricktown in Oldman’s Township. The total cost of the project is approximately  $19.5 million and may provide about 75 jobs upon completion of construction in December 2008.

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Pennville Pitman Street House