FMC announces $50 million investment in Newark facility
25 JUNE, 2019
FMC Corporation is planning to invest $50 million in its Stine Research Center in Newark, officials announced late Monday.
The Philadelphia-based agricultural sciences company acquired the 515-acre site on Elkton Road from DuPont in 2017. Stine serves as FMC’s global research and development center.
“We will invest nearly $2 billion in research and development through 2023 as a cornerstone of FMC’s long-term growth strategy,” Mark Douglas, president and chief operating officer, said in a prepared statement. “FMC employees at the Stine Research Center will lead much of this critical discovery and development work to serve our global business and customers. We’re pleased to partner with the State of Delaware to further our investment in the area.”
FMC will receive $1.6 million in incentives from the state’s Delaware Strategic Fund, though that money is contingent on the company meeting employment benchmarks, according to Sarah Kenney-Cruz, a spokeswoman for the Delaware Prosperity Partnership.
FMC is expected to hire 13 new employees over the next three years, including professional scientists and skilled associates, adding $1.3 million to the payroll. The Stine site already employs approximately 600 people, including support staff and contractors.
“FMC is making a significant new investment in Delaware, and in a campus that has long been a center of world-class biotechnology and agriscience research,” Gov. John Carney said in a prepared statement. “This investment in Newark will support good-paying jobs for Delawareans and their families, and the continued growth of our state’s economy. It’s more true than ever that Delaware has a world-class workforce, and a quality of life that is second to none. And these investments by FMC help reaffirm that our state is a great place for businesses of all sizes to put down roots, grow, and create good-paying jobs.”
Emily Parenteau, a spokeswoman for FMC, said the work will include a state-of-the-art reconfiguration of a greenhouse as well as improvements to a research building and the purchase of additional equipment and infrastructure.
FMC produces a number of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides for farming, though the Newark site is used for research and development, not manufacturing.
“Over the years, FMC has been a leader in developing agricultural products that our farmers need,” Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael T. Scuse said in a prepared statement. “As a global agricultural leader, we are excited to have their research facilities based in Delaware and their continued investment in the First State.”