PBT Transcript (2-19-2008)
MIKE ARMSTRONG: Hi, I'm Mike Armstrong. Coming up, we'll look at why Campbell's Soup is getting healthier, we'll get inside a northeast Philadelphia manufacturer that's adding jobs, and we'll hear from a resident of Chester about whether they think a major league soccer stadium should be built there. Philadelphia Business Today starts now.
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MIKE ARMSTRONG: The Blue Bell technology company Unisys looks like it's preparing for big changes. The company today rescheduled it's annual meeting after activist shareholders pushed for big changes. Unisys and its investment banking firm will be looking at a number of different options. This could be the first step to breaking up the company. That's what one hedge fund has been pushing for. But Unisys says there's no guarantee it will change anything.
Camden's own Campbell's Soup is more than doubling its line of low sodium soups. The new offerings include 36 varieties called Select Harvest. Campbell's will also start selling 12 soups just for kids with a new healthy label under federal criteria. The secret is sea salt, but the real reason for these changes is that its healthy for their bottom line. Sales of those products have gone from $100 million in 2003 to $650 million last year.
And today, a Northeast Philadelphia helicopter manufacturer is announcing its adding 150 jobs. Agusta Westland is adding an assembly line for its AW139, a helicopter used for law enforcement, search and rescue, and off-shore oil operations. Yesterday, Agusta Westland took us inside the facility, where CEO Giuseppe Orsi explained why the Italian company decided to expand here.
GIUSEPPE ORSI: Basically, what we are doing here is, the assembly line of the 139. The 139 is a very successful helicopter, and so successful that we have been pushed toward double the assembly line. And when we were thinking and planning where to do it, because of the reason I said before we decided to do it here in Philly.
MIKE ARMSTRONG: Agusta is one of three companies that have helicopter factories in the area. Helicopters have been big business around Philadelphia for a long time. Boeing has more than 5,000 employees in Ridley Township, and Sikorsky has 800 people in Coatesville.
There are big plans for a soccer stadium in Chester, and any day now we could learn that a major league team could land there. I have some reservations about that plan, but let's hear from some residents of that city.
TOYA SCOTT (Chester resident): I'm for it and against it. For it, because I think it could bring positive, positivity to the city, you know, as far as people, and capturing the city, because there is a lot going on here. Against it, because I think, you know, putting $46 million into a stadium is taking away from our schools.
WILLIAM FRANKLIN (Chester resident): I would think it would be a good thing, it would bring more revenue into the city. Which the city could surely use.
DORIS SMITH ( Chester resident): Chester need more than a soccer team. They need schools, they need markets, there's no markets in Chester, there's no nothing, no food markets or nothing for anybody. So a soccer team? I don't think it's good.
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MIKE ARMSTRONG: Now, here's what I think about the deal. Some wealthy investors have been trying to land that soccer team-more power to them. But I don't like it when those who want to build new stadiums trot out the economic impact of them, and I really don't like public funding of them. Pennsylvania has committed $25 million, Delaware County $30 million, and drivers who use the Delaware Bridges may wind up paying, too. That's just too much money that taxpayers and commuters will pay to build a stadium that will sit empty more days than its used. It's hard for me to understand how an empty building can propel Chester forward. After all, it's had plenty of those for years.
That's it for today's show. Come back tomorrow and you'll see our exclusive interview with Philadelphia restaurateur Neil Stein about life about prison and his plans for a new restaurant. At the Inquirer, I'm Mike Armstrong for Philadelphia Business Today.
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