There's another Grays Ferry march that will not happen - more than 450 jobs heading to Virginia.
Mayor Rendell and DuPont company officials announced yesterday that DuPont's Marshall Laboratory in Grays Ferry will stay put. DuPont officials had been considering other sites, including a plant in Virginia, since September.
In addition, Rendell said, the city may clean up some vacant land and buildings around DuPont to create a new industrial park.
``This is a tremendous victory for Philadelphia and for Grays Ferry,'' Rendell said. The facility researches paints and automotive finishes.
Carol Senkler, director of the lab, said DuPont had considered moving to another plant because ``it's cheaper to operate one big site than two small ones.''
She said the company finally decided to stay in Philadelphia because it wanted to put its efforts into expanding the business.
``That takes time and money and focus,'' Senkler said. ``If we were to close this plant and move, there would be quite a distraction in terms of closing the site, moving people. So rather than do all that, we're going to concentrate on improving productivity and reducing costs.''
Senkler said DuPont would upgrade equipment at the facility, and Andrew Toy of the city Commerce Department said up to $1.5 million in low-interest loans should be available for that.
Also, the state could help with some job training funds, and both Peco Energy and the Philadelphia Gas Works are exploring ways to help cut DuPont's energy costs.
The idea of clearing some nearby abandoned industrial sites to create an industrial park came out of conversations with DuPont.
``We've got grass and azaleas at our site,'' Senkler said. ``But the immediate area around us has a lot of abandoned, industrial buildings, and that's made it more difficult for us to recruit people to work here.''
City officials will explore the prospects for clearing the sites, some of which may be environmentally contaminated. Rendell said yesterday he hopes to see a ``terrific, first-rate industrial park.''
State funds should be available to help with environmental cleanup, Rendell said.
