The economic recovery depends mightily on the willingness of business owners to spend on construction and equipment and to hire new workers.
Ray Rastelli, president of Rastelli Foods Group in South Jersey, is doing his part: The meat processor plans to start a $22 million expansion this month that will nearly triple the size of its Swedesboro plant and add 120 to Rastelli's overall workforce of 625.
The addition of 91,000 square feet to the 49,000 square feet built six years ago continues the rapid growth of Rastelli Foods, which has its roots in a butcher shop opened in Oak Valley, Gloucester County, in 1976.
From small-town retail roots, Rastelli Foods evolved into a big supplier of beef to high-end steak houses, such as Union Trust in Center City, as well as chains with 1,000 locations. But a big driver of the latest expansion is RastelliDirect, a new effort to sell to consumers over the Internet.
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