MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Members of the Berkeley County council had the opportunity to tour the Procter & Gamble property last week and get an update on the site’s progress.
The site, which has been under development since ground was broken in October 2015, will soon house manufacturing facilities for a number of the Ohio-based company’s products, starting with Bounce fabric softener later this year.
Berkeley County Councilman Dan Dulyea said it is impressive to see what has happened on the 458-acre site.
“It’s amazing. I mean, I’m a contractor and I’ve done this my whole life, but to go out there and see what they’ve done in basically nine months,” he said.
Dulyea said it took about a year to clear and level the site along Interstate 81 in south Berkeley County due to large amounts of limestone.
“For a project that size they had a cut of 46 or 49 feet in order to get the ground level out there,” he added.
Dulyea said that’s one of their biggest challenges when it comes to development around the Interstate where limestone deposits extend about a mile in either direction.
But now the company is on track to begin production in February, and Dulyea hopes it will be a catalyst to bring other businesses to the region.
Human resources manager at the P&G Tabler Station plant Ryan Moore said they have been busy hiring with about 300 workers already in place.
He said most of them are what they’d classify as local hires.
“130, give or take, are actually local technicians,” he said. “Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia. Those are the majority where folks have come from.”
Moore said they plan to really ramp up their advertising in 2018 as they look to bring on 260-plus workers.
As many as 700 jobs will have been created when the site is fully operational sometime in 2019.
Those interested in applying need to do it through P&G’s website, www.pgcareers.com.