After 130 Years, Philadelphia Manufacturer Leaving for Bensalem

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA —A company that has been based in Philadelphia for close to 130 years is moving to the township.

Weber Display & Packaging will relocate from its operations in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia to a state-of-the-art, 375,000-square-foot industrial manufacturing facility and office at 4630 Somerton Road after the Bensalem Township Council awarded preliminary and final approval at its meeting Tuesday night.

Attorney Edward Murphy told supervisors that the company had outgrown its current facility and wanted to find a place where it would be able to keep its 170 employees.

"Weber has been looking for years," Murphy said. "It's so heavily dependent on its employees. Weber was reluctant to relocate. It had a limited radius. Bensalem was one of them. So no attrition."

Murphy said the project recently received planning board approval with the process ongoing for a year. He said the company wouldn't dismantle its current facility until the new one in Bensalem is completed.

The company has a rich history, Murphy said, even building boxes to house Stetson hats. Tastykake and Dietz & Watson are among its clients, he said.

Weber is the longest ongoing operating corrugated packaging and display manufacturer in the city of Philadelphia, it boasts on its website.

The family-owned company provides high-quality display and packaging solutions. The company has operated nearly 130 years and has grown from its original facility at Fifth and Locust Streets in Philadelphia to its current 110,000-square-foot facility in Port Richmond.

Township officials said the business would be a welcome addition and that Bensalem is the perfect home.

"We have Routes 1 and 95, the train and also buses," Township Supervisor Joe Pilieri told Patch Wednesday. "It's a good fit."

"It's a major company that is well-respected," Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo told Patch Wednesday.