Mars corporate moving to Newark?
Just saw this
NEWARK -- Move over, Amazon. You may not be the only buzz-worthy new HQ thinking of coming to town. Mars Wrigley Confectionery -- the candy company responsible for sweet treats like M&M's, Milky Ways, and Snickers -- is applying for a $31 million ...
http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2017/11/candy_returning_to_newark_mars_may_open_hq_in_bric.html
Bug3I heard on WRNJ that they are NOT leaving Htown. They want to open another plant in Newark.
Botheredbyuu2 The article states operations would continue in Hackettstown - Newark/Illinois would be an expansion of operations
The R Basically they are looking at another headquarters and the M&M plant here in Hackettstown would also be expanding in 2020.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/candy_maker_mars_gets_30m_10-year_tax_break_to_exp.html#incart_river_home
"If Newark prevails over Chicago, Mars Wrigley would move 113 jobs from Chicago and 370 jobs from Hackettstown to Newark."
370 jobs will be a big F-Y to Hackettstown!
Ed All corporate jobs in htown are going to Newark. A lot of jobs are being outsourced to India as well, but they don't say that out loud.
Well, the good thing is that at least people will be able to keep their job even if their commute is longer. I'm sure this has "nothing" to do with our incoming dem governor and the fact that Hackettstown is red and Newark is blue. Thankfully I only have 19 months left in this failing state!
1988LJ 
ru What about the Mount Olive location? Always thought most coporate jobs were there as opposed to being in the Hackettstown facility.
D-ManPV 
Caged Animal Well, I know somebody that lives in the Poconos so he would be killed by a suicide commute to Newark. Luckily, he is not a young dude so he will probably just retire before it happens...
iJay And where is our Mayor in all this? Has anyone in our esteemed local government made an attempt to engage Mars to keep the Jobs here? Jim L.?
The EDA also approved a second $1 million grant for a capital project in Hackettstown, that would bring 92 new jobs from Chicago, and stop 369 jobs from migrating to Chicago. Mars has committed to making $54.2 million in capital investments in Hackettstown, according to the summary.
"If the state of New Jersey approves our recent incentives application we hope to create offices in both Hackettstown and Newark in 2020," a Mars Wrigley spokeswoman told NJ Advance Media on Monday.
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/candy_maker_mars_gets_30m_10-year_tax_break_to_exp.html
Jim L. So Hackettstown still has a net loss of 278 Jobs. Not good.
Again - Has the Mayor engaged Mars or is she being reactive instead of proactive?
Ras Baraka certainly has been involved...
According to another articler that I read, there will be 92 new jobs in Hackettstown that will be moved from Chicago. Even if that is small the town will still have 92 jobs back, maybe different role, but at least something. I think the positive part is even if Hackettstown will lose 278 or so jobs by moving to Newark, this will prevent from these folks losing their job at all if their department is actually moved to Chicago instead.
Just an opinion.
momOf2 The plant is not moving! Some of the departments in the office are moving, most are staying. With the people that are transferring from Chicago to NJ, half will be located in Hackettstown, half in Newark. They are also planning on expanding the plant which will mean more jobs. The rumor I heard is that there are currently over 600 people in the office and after the Newark location is opened and people have transferred, there will be around 550.
candyman Nathan, it's way to early to figure out what the net gain/loss of employees will be to Hackettstown. jobs are being moved from Chicago to both Newark and Hackettstown. The Hackettstown plant will be expanding which will result in more jobs in town so while some of the exes might be moving to Newark, more workers will be coming to Hackettstown so it could all even out and the net gain/loss turns out to be a wash.
http://www.roi-nj.com/2017/11/10/politics/mars-wrigley-seeks-grow-nj-grant-to-move-to-newarks-ironside-building/
So I take that to mean the Mayor has not reached out to Mars in any meaningful way...
I mean why be bothered, right? I'm sure there are more important things to do as mayor.
Metsman Negotiate Metsman - Negotiate.
Or at least try to see what the town can do or needs to do to prevent a loss of jobs. That's what she's supposed to do.
You are free to take that any way you want. I’m not going to discuss on HL what the mayor may or may not be doing.
But as metsman said what exactly are your expectations? M&M got a $31mill tax break to open a Corp office in Newark. What would you like us to do, Match that tax break to make sure not a single job moves out of Hackettstown?
Once all the dust settles it will most likely be a wash on the number of jobs moving out of town and the number of jobs moving in. Not to mention a $40-$50 million dollar improvement to the Hackettstown plant so M&M is here to stay.
But if you look at how the relationship between the town and Mars has grown over the last decade I think you can see how active our mayor has been with them
Jim, you are absolutely right . Mayor DiGiovanni is the ONLY and I mean ONLY Mayor of this town for the past 30 some years who has "EVER" "EVER"reached out to Mars. Under her watch they support more programs and events Hackettstown has ever had. So to those of you who have no idea what your talking about, please don't embarrass yourself and please stop.
auntiel Definitely is not a net-net for jobs. Additionally, any jobs that may be coming in would be plant-based, which are lower paying opportunities. Those types of positions do not counter balance the corporate jobs that are moving.
People that think these employees aren’t going to lose jobs need a reality check. Plus the Hackettstown plant is like 100 years old and Mars open a hugh plant in KA a like 2 years ago making the same products in Hackettstown and half the plant workers are contractors. Get a reality check Mars is moving.
Whip Do they manufacture candy at the Mt Olive location? I thought it was corporate only
LittlePiglet USS Nathan James - what did the mayor say when you reached out to talk to them? I would guess that if you can type letters into the interwebz, then you can probably communicate with the mayors office yourself.
Why don’t you be a big boy, do that and report back?
btownguy Can we get a reality check here. The mayor of Hackettstown is supposed to negotiate with a $50 Billion company against a state/city grant of $31 million to occupy 110,000 square feet of space in Newark. What do we offer Mars to relocate it all here?? I have not seen a building or property close to that size here as well as being able to staff it. Actually, I think the mayor should also be submitting proposals to Amazon to relocate here as well... I am sure the Mayor would love to keep and grow Mars in town. Based on current info the factory is staying put(for now). Our mayor has done a great job with the resources available, lets not get too far out with expectations. Mars will do what Mars does. We can ask, but not much else
Elii The office in Mt. Olive is "Mars Information Services"... i.e. global IT support.
http://www.mars.com/cis/en/careers/more-than-a-job/functional-areas/information-technology.aspx
Mark Mc. 
Wonderful That would actually be a good location, but companies are now looking to relocate back into the urban areas and tax breaks drive decisions. Never understood large companies relocating into huge new areas and leaving the old ones. BASF built new location after leaving this one which they built and moved into..??? It’s only money, I guess...
I wonder if Newark will change the name of Broad St. to M&M's Chocolate ave, or is that esteemed honor exclusively ours in perpetuity.
Denis If your in the Itc area the Mars sign in Mt Olive says Mars Global. There is nothing the major can do except ask but I agree Mars already has a vision and it’s to move. It’s just unfortunate that a company that is private and still family owned would make such a poor decision to get a hugh tax break.
3wbdwnj The high paying factory jobs are here still. Just the higher paying corporate jobs are moving with those higher educated more affluent liberal types who chose not to vote for a Christie clone are. Rest ez, we still got a factory.....for now.
Real estate is bought, amortized, sold when no residual tax value for new more cost effective digs. When I first reported to corporate, they literally moved as I drove in. I had to find HR to find my place ten miles away in another town. By this time, I can say I have worked for one company all over this state. NYC financial district was a tough one though. Two years of passing the pile. Not happy times for sure.
Strangerdanger Thank you Elli for that much needed reality check.
Mars will be investing $40-$50mil to the Hackettstown plant.
Again, to reiterate what I said earlier. The plant is staying and is going to be updated and increase in size. Only certain departments are moving to Newark, while others are staying here in Hackettstown. Currently there are just over 600 people working in the office. Once the move takes place and all the Chicago people come in, there will be around 550 in the office. However with the updates to the plant and the increased lines they want to bring in, the total number of employees on site will increase. Yes Mars does employ temp labor, but the majority of the staff in the plant are Mars people.
The offices in Mount Olive (trade zone) will be remaining. The old BASF building was way too big for Mars and would cost too much to renovate.
The plant in Kansas that was opened was created to increase capacity, not take away from any other site. They are still putting more lines in there, as Mars cannot keep up with the demand now. Closing the Hackettstown Plant would be detrimental.
In 1990, there were 900 people in the plant. By the end of the 90's, they had moved equipment to Mexico, Brazil and China. Computers and robotics helped 350 stay in the plant. The office in the same time period had 6 vice presidents in 1990 and 114 vice presidents by 2000.
One-eyed Poacher The money is already being put into the plant. Some much needed repairs and such are on-going and the people at MARS are not worried. It's the corp jobs that are moving and they have been planning that for a long time. Hopefully those stay in NJ at least. The low wage Factory Jobs are operated by a few staffing agencies and the employees are not working for MARS directly so they are not on the MARS employee count. Only the high paying factory jobs are with MARS itself, which you can only get by working your way up through the low wage jobs, or know someone.
http://www.njherald.com/20171119/hackettstown-mayor-sees-good-news--in-mars-plans#//
Our Mayor talks about the Mars plans.
Greg @Sirya Black
You are wrong. The majority of the factory positions are held by MARS employees. Yes there are 2 staffing agencies that provide workers (some in the packing room and the cleaning company.) There are plenty of factory roles that are held by the Mars associates, some are entry level and like you said some are higher paying. Please stop spreading false information.
That article confirmed my thoughts. She hasn't spoken to anyone at Mars - she heard what we heard.
Way to be involved Mayor. Now go force a Quik Chek down the peoples throats and make my kids re register for school - again.
She has spoken to Mars, she speaks to them often, she knows what's going on. We've known about what's happening at Mars for quite some time.
And we as town council did not make your kids re register. We don't have the power to tell the Board to do that.
The mayor seems to have a rare interpretation of the facts and perhaps should have read the press on this before weighing in. Never ever good to say: "I have been kept pretty well informed of the situation" when adding: "I can't speak to what their corporate plans are" while telling us what the corporate plans are to make us fee safe....hmm. I agree, that in the long run this may bring jobs to Hackettstown. They will not be the higher-paying jobs available in Newark.
And more jobs.... Think about it. Imagine that second floor administrative area filled with administrative types. Busy bustling people everywhere. Each with a square foot of cube or so (or an open yet empowering space that MARS was famous as copying the Japanese for). Now, erase that and put in a factory. Notice what's missing --- people!! Instead we go machines, parts, inventory, machines, machines...
So you gots some laws of human resource management physics going on here that probably would conclude you gonna need a bigger boat ---- if you want to have more sailors.
Just sayin.
Wonder if they will be keeping the house across the street? Make a great Dental, Diabetes, and Obesity Center as a give back for all they take :<(
(chillax, just poking at ya... in the scheme of things, great neighbors, both mayor and corporation, both of who I wish all the success in the world.)
Mars made their official announcement today:
http://www.mars.com/docs/default-source/Press-Releases/mars-wrigley-confectionery-us-location_press-release-12052017-(1).pdf?sfvrsn=2
"By July 2020, there will be approximately 500 Associates working in Newark and approximately 1,000 Associates in Hackettstown. In addition to investment in a new office in Newark, Mars will continue to invest in its office and manufacturing facility in Hackettstown. "
GrayCat Interesting articles about M & M Mars:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/arbor-investments-enters-pet-care-category-with-an-agreement-to-purchase-mars-petcare-us-private-label-business-300712204.html
https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1MB2T4
Raising cash with a little pruning, Too bad it's private, love to invest in how they spend it.....
Often when companies are acquired by investment firms the quality of product goes down the drain as the investment firm wrings profits out of the aquired company. This is especially bad for pet food companies due to limited oversight/ regulation. Cutting corners by using inferior ingredients and manufacturing processes can lead to reduced product quality impacting the health and wellness of pets.
plc plc,
I would add that also sometimes the company gets pumped,dumped, and liquidated, even if it is profitable.
Interesting new California law-pet stores can only have dogs from shelters, they cannot sell from breeders anymore.
I really hope this helps the overcrowding from animal shelters in the future there. So many unwanted pets.
dodgeball to the question "what can the mayor do?" ... well, other than ask, the mayor should understand what brings companies, small business owners and homeowners to the tow, and reach out to those groups proposing what they can that helps one group without degrading another. maybe i'm naïve but that's what the original posting was asking ... what has the mayor done. if that's what was done, and the answer is homeowners and other businesses would be too disadvantaged to give what a big company would want, then thanks, good job! if the answer is the person in charge (the mayor) asked, too late, as if they were out of touch with what was needed, then that's a poor job. on top of that, they should be working with county and state officials to get as much assistance as possible. and then all this should be posted on the Hackettstown website so we can all feel good that all efforts are being made to do the best for us all.
Our new Gov did have somthing to do with this. He is giving Mars a huge tax break if they open an operation in that Newark.
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