BALTIMORE — Up To Date Laundry Inc. plans to build an additional healthcare laundry processing facility in East Baltimore at Hollander Business Park, with an anticipated grand opening of July 2017, the company reports.
“When we relocated to our DeSoto Road facility in 1999, our hopes were to one day reach 40% to 50% of its capacity. Well, that ship has sailed, literally,” says Nancy Stair-Carter, CEO of Up To Date Laundry.
Up To Date Laundry says it will have the potential to add 72 million pounds of processing capacity and 400 new jobs once all phases of the buildout are complete, over the next five years.
Up To Date Laundry partnered with FRP Development Corp., Sparks, Md., a full-service real estate development company specializing in land acquisition, construction and property management, to lease the 79,600-square-foot manufacturing facility built in a Maryland Certified Enterprise Zone, according to the company.
“FRP is excited to have the opportunity to construct this laundry facility for such a storied company in Baltimore,” says David H. deVilliers III, vice president of FRP.
“We chose this location to continue our commitment to the City of Baltimore by providing jobs to areas that can benefit from additional employment opportunities and by building our facilities focusing on sustainability of the environment,” says Mark Carter, president of Up To Date Laundry. “We’re confident that we’ll be serving the healthcare community in the Mid-Atlantic region for another 70 years,”
Up To Date Laundry launched its business in Baltimore in 1946, servicing ships arriving at the Baltimore Harbor from New York and Virginia, as well as the retail clientele of the local community, before getting into healthcare laundry processing.
The company says it is working closely with the Baltimore Development Corp. (BDC) and the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development in support of the goals associated with the “One Baltimore” program to create jobs in East Baltimore.
“We congratulate Up To Date Laundry on their continued success and, specifically, on this expansion,” says William H. Cole, president and CEO of BDC. “In addition to BDC’s loan program, Up To Date Laundry was also able to take advantage of our façade improvement grant, which is now citywide. These programs exist to help businesses, like Up to Date Laundry, grow, thrive and create new jobs right here in Baltimore.”
Up To Date Laundry received financing for the project from Revere Bank.
“We have been a partner of Up To Date Laundry though the upgrade of their current facility and we are very proud to support their continued growth,” says Ken Cook, co-president and CEO of Revere Bank.
This project is in conjunction with the expansion of laundry services that Up To Date Laundry provides to the Johns Hopkins Health System in support of the HopkinsLocal initiative, the company says. Launched in fall 2015, HopkinsLocal harnesses Johns Hopkins University and Health System’s economic activity to promote growth and employment in Baltimore.
“This expansion is an example of what we hope will be accomplished through our HopkinsLocal commitments,” says Kenneth Grant, vice president of general services for Johns Hopkins Hospital and vice president of supply chain management for Johns Hopkins Health System. “In supporting the growth of this local woman-owned business, we are excited about the new jobs this will create for our communities most in need of job opportunities.”
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