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The city of Newark scored another coup in attracting new businesses Thursday, when Damascus Bakery Inc. signed a long-term lease to move its facility from Brooklyn, N.Y., to the southwest side of the city.
The third-generation bakery, through Sills, Cummis & Gross P.C., will move operations to 60 McClellan Ave. within the next few months. More than 180 full-time food manufacturing jobs will relocate to the city.
"We have been working with Damascus for three years, we're excited about the jobs," said Lynier Richardson, CEO of Brick City Development Corp. "It's interesting just because of the location they've selected — immediately there's going to be improvement in the neighborhood. We got approved to demolish a building across the street … when new companies come in, with new energy, new employees and new investments, ancillary development happens."
Damascus Bakery, which opened in Brooklyn in 1930, makes artisan flatbreads, wraps and panini bread.
"Food manufacturing is one of New Jersey's established and growing industries, and Damascus (Bakery) is a natural fit for this state," said Tracye McDaniel, president and CEO of Choose New Jersey, in an e-mail. "Its story is an inspirational one, and it's exactly the sort of business that will thrive in a state like New Jersey.
"We welcome the 180-plus full-time food manufacturing jobs it will bring to New Jersey, and we look forward to helping them continue to grow in our state."
It continues to build on Newark's rising reputation as a food manufacturer: Wakefern Food Corp. broke ground on a new distribution center in Newark on Aug. 3, and Manischewitz relocated its world headquarters to the city earlier this year.
"I think (it) really advances our momentum in the buildout of our industrial district with Manischewitz and Wakefern and Bartlett," said Adam Zipkin, chief of staff for the city's Department of Housing and Economic Development. "It says we've become a destination for these companies."
Richardson said the BCDC had been showing Damascus sites for several years for the company's expansion, but it took finding a building that met all the bakery's needs to get the deal done. Richardson said Damascus received Urban Enterprise Zone grant money for the relocation, as well as additional funds from the Economic Development Authority for machinery purchases and local hiring.
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