August 3, 2021- 

Scott Humphrey is probably the most active Delawarean you’ve never heard of.

If you’ve seen a large outdoor production, you’ve likely experienced his work. From Firefly, to Election Night at the Riverfront, to the stage where the Pope spoke in Philly, he and his team at Light Action and Staging Dimensions were front and center.

Pine Box Soundstage to Open Late Fall 2021

Now, Pine Box, currently under construction for a targeted opening in late fall 2021, is a massive soundstage facility for rehearsing concerts, film productions and large (think Broadway) performing arts events. The name Pine Box comes from a saying that Humphrey’s father used to use.

“He would talk about moving into his final home, and the one after that would be the pine box,” Humphrey said. “And it just kind of stuck. This is my final stop.”

The idea behind Pine Box came out of necessity. Outgrowing their New Castle location, where they had set up shop over 14 years ago, while also becoming more involved in corporate activations found them in need of a more dynamic location.

“Companies like Red Bull and AT&T were looking to stage events before they go out to do their promotions, so we needed a facility that could accommodate their needs,” Humphrey said. “In doing that, we realized there was an opportunity to do the same for the film industry.”

Humphrey’s companies were on point for the 2020 Presidential Campaign, from working several of Donald Trump’s rallies through running the gamut of Joe Biden’s speeches in Wilmington at The Queen and then the Democratic Convention at the Chase Center as well as the week of the election. When asked about the challenge of running an Election Night that turned into an election week, Humphrey said, “These types of events always come down to the last minute. It’s very challenging to get things prepped for an event like that with things changing, even locations changing. But we really are so used to that at this point.”

Why Wilmington?

When asked “Why Wilmington?,” Humphrey was candid.

“Well, this is where I live,” he said. “I’ve been here since 1983, made my home here, and this is my community. There was no plan to be here, but this is where it grew. There are more reasons to be here than there  are not.”

Between Humphrey’s three businesses — Light Action, Applied Electronics and Staging Dimensions— there are 60 collective years of experience and 130 employees, many who have been with him for over 20 years. “It was a really difficult decision to make when the pandemic hit, but I was able to do it with only 21 layoffs,” he said. Humphrey did have to reduce wages to 50% scale to make it work, but has since gotten wages back to 100%.

In an industry known for dealing with curveballs, the pandemic hit Humphrey’s businesses harder than most, peaking right at the time when their largest annual events — festivals, commencements, etc. — typically occur.

“We do 50% of our business in a four-month period, and all of that stuff got canceled,” he said. “No one realized that our industry, entertainment, had over 80% unemployment. We’re slowly coming back from that, but we won’t really see a full return until sometime next year.”

When Pine Box opens, Humphrey expects it to house at least 60 employees with certain events creating an influx of 12 to 30 workers from the local stagehand union. “Our space becomes this nucleus of people working in and out of the building,” he explained.

One of the things that makes Humphrey’s companies unique is that over 85% of their gross revenue is earned outside Delaware. “We are a model for both the state and for the city for bringing in dollars from outside the region into the state, with the people who are working here actually living in the state,” he said.

When asked what the highlight of 2020 was for Humphrey, he didn’t hesitate.

“It was turning to the people that work for the company, very talented people who could work anywhere, and explaining to them what I was able to do when the pandemic hit,” he recalled. “The fact that they said ‘yes,’ almost to a person – that loyalty was the highlight for me. I never thought I’d see it the way I saw it.”

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13 November, 2019 – 

When Datwyler Sealing Solutions decided to expand its manufacturing and distribution capabilities in North America, the Swiss company’s site selection criteria were quite specific. After considering locations across the United States, company leaders concluded that Middletown, Delaware, was the optimal location for its new $100 million, 200,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant.

“We identified a handful of areas across the country that might satisfy our needs, “says Frank Schoubben, site director of the company’s new Middletown, DE, plant. He served as a member of the team tasked with selecting the new U.S. site.

Datwyler, a more than 100-year-old firm headquartered in the heart of the Swiss Alps, began as a manufacturer of rubber products, including tires. Today, however, Datwyler Holding owns 50 business entities, with sales in over 100 countries and employing more than 8,000 employees. Its product line includes a broad range of rubber stoppers, aluminum seals, plungers, combiseals, tip caps and needle shields used in pharmaceutical products, medical devices and for diagnostic research and drug development. Datwyler Sealing Solutions also makes products for the automotive business, consumer goods, oil & gas, and general industries.

The new Middletown plant, opened in 2018, is dedicated to Datwyler’s proprietary clean-room technology dubbed “FirstLine.” The technology is aimed at eliminating contamination in the manufacturing process, a critical concern in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries.

During the site selection process, location was first on the list of Datwyler’s critical considerations. The site had to be near the company’s major customers in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries. Sites across the continental United States were under consideration, but Datwyler was especially interested in locations in the tri-state area of New York, Delaware, and New Jersey, an epicenter of the American pharma industry.

In addition to geographic concerns, the company knew it would need to hire in excess of 100 employees with a variety of technical and business skills. So, a critical element of the search process was a survey of educational resources that would be nearby and responsive to Datwyler’s requirements.

Finally, the new site had to be near a major, international airport.

In the end, Middletown, Delaware, made the cut. 

A native of Belgium, Schoubben holds a master’s degree in industrial engineering and electrical mechanics with a specialty in polymers. A 16-year veteran of Datwyler, he has worked at company sites around the world. Most importantly, he led a greenfield site project in India, so he has lived through – and mastered – the tricky process of managing the technical and regulatory details of site selection.

“A number of things attracted us to Delaware. Of course, its proximity to our customers, many of whom are in New Jersey, was a key factor,” says Schoubben. “There are about 100 colleges and universities within a 2-hour drive from Delaware, so we knew we would have an attractive pool of well-educated people to satisfy our hiring needs.”

While technical competency is a requirement for employment with companies like Datwyler, so-called “soft skills” are also in demand. “A key objective of our hiring process is to identify people we can groom as future leaders,” says Schoubben. “We are engaged in that search now and expect to hire a total of 120 employees for this site.”

“We appreciate and admire Delaware’s historic ties to the chemical industry and manufacturing,” says Schoubben.  “And, of course, the scale of business and industrial growth in the Middletown area made it clear that this area welcomes companies like ours.”

Once Delaware emerged as the leading contender, Datwyler reached out to state economic development officials to explore the feasibility of locating in the Middletown area.

“Our experience was great,” Schoubben says. “It was very easy to establish open communications with state and local officials.”

He says they helped the company overcome potential barriers to obtaining permits and navigating regulatory workstreams. Because of their extensive experience, Delaware officials were able to arrange key contacts, make introductions and sequence events so that the overall process flowed smoothly.

“It’s been a good ride for us,” says Schoubben. “We continue to have good relationships with state and local officials and they continue to provide support when we need it. The fact that it took only 18 months from groundbreaking to grand opening is really notable. This is a winner for us!”

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