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(Hazleton Standard Speaker, October 16, 2008) – Archer Daniels Midland’s ultimate attraction to the Hazleton area was the people who would work at the company’s largest operation in the United States, the company president says.

Company officials were joined by local dignitaries at grand-opening ceremonies for the 500,000-square-foot cocoa processing plant nestled on 74 acres in the new Humboldt North Industrial Park in Greater Hazleton.

Patricia A. Woertz, ADM’s chairwoman, chief executive officer and president, said there were three factors that sold ADM on locating the facility here.

“We began looking to locate this plant in 2005,” Woertz said. “There were many desirable locations. Several things attracted us to the Hazleton area. We would be close to our East Coast customers and our raw materials suppliers, and there is a strong, local transportation system.”

But one factor stood out.

“It was the skilled workforce we were tremendously fortunate to find here,” said Woertz, a native Pennsylvanian who graduated from Penn State University. “We are going to try to keep that talent pool cultivated for the next generation.”

The company, which is expected to create at least 200 jobs here within three years, presented the Hazleton Area Career Center with a $10,000 check.

Suzanne Kelly, director of advancement for the Luzerne Foundation, the charitable organization which will monitor the donation, said the money will be used for programs that will “specifically benefit the students of the Career Center.”

Mark Bemis, ADM’s vice president of cocoa and milling, said the cooperation ADM received from local and state officials made the project happen.

“We received a warm reception when we first came here two years ago,” Bemis said. “This community did a tremendous amount of heavy lifting on behalf of ADM. We are extremely grateful for the guidance and assistance we received from local officials, state officials, and the contractors who helped us build this facility. We could not have found a better place for this plant. This company has a brighter future because of Hazleton.”

Rich Heaney of Gov. Ed Rendell’s Office said the state money invested in the project enabled more private money to be invested in the area.