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products center that was generated directly or in large part because of the new warehouse.

“Expertise in handling the cargo, excellent facilities, and mutually-beneficial business agreements are what keep ships coming into our forest products center,” said John Brown, Jr., President of Penn Warehousing & Distribution, Inc.  “Thanks to the help of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, we added a major new selling point to that successful formula.”

Most of the cargoes handled at the Forest Products Distribution Center are rolls of high quality coated paper from Finland and Sweden.  This high quality product also arrives from other European countries, as well as from South America. The paper is ultimately used in the printing of magazines, catalogs, and quality printed pieces such as brochures and other promotional materials.  Some newsprint also comes into the facility.  Paper rolls require clean, dry, spacious interior storage to reduce the chance of damage to the cargo and to allow the large volumes that arrive here to be efficiently moved by forklifts around the facility and eventually onto rail cars and trucks.

During the grand opening ceremony, the critical role of the Port’s ILA and Teamster workforce was also acknowledged as a vital component in attracting cargoes to the facility.  “We now have this new, state-of-the-art warehouse to serve the needs of our shippers,” said Representative Keller, “but equally important is that we have experienced members of the Port’s labor force unloading those cargoes from the vessels and moving the rolls within the warehouse.  We’re extremely proud of our labor force.  It’s not the guys in the suits and ties that make things happen, it’s the guys in the orange vests and hardhats.”

The speakers went on to laud the many facets of the new warehouse, including its energy-efficient lighting, modern sprinkler system, and a design conducive to the efficient flow of cargo in and out of the warehouse.  “This is truly the newest gem on our working waterfront,” Mr. McDermott said.

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is an independent agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania charged with the management, maintenance, marketing, and promotion of publicly owned port facilities along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, as well as strategic planning in the port district.  PRPA works with its terminal operators to modernize, expand, and improve its facilities, and to market those facilities to prospective port users.  Port cargoes and the activities they generate are responsible for thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the Philadelphia area and throughout Pennsylvania, as well as numerous other economic benefits.

Penn Warehousing & Distribution, Inc. is a family-owned business that has operated the Port of Philadelphia’s Forest Products Distribution Center for more than thirty years.  PRPA and Penn Warehousing often work together to identify and attract new cargoes to the facility.