Waste Management growth hailed by Delaware Governor and DEDO head

Governor Jack Markell, Delaware Senate Majority Leader David McBride and Alan Levin, director of the Delaware Economic Development Office, were in New Castle today for the official grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of Waste Masters Solutions, a new environmental solutions company servicing the state of Delaware.

The company’s development in Delaware has been a three-year project for Markell and Levin. Maryland-based owners Brian Simmons and Steve Masterson worked closely with state leaders to secure the New Castle location in 2011.

Masterson explained that Delaware was an ideal place to bring the business because the Delaware Solid Waste Authority owns the landfills, rather than private companies, and because of the state’s recycling opportunities.

“The main job is to manage any disposal from a place whether it’s to recycle it, reuse it or last resort is to landfill it so we provide that waste solution,” explained Masterson.

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One of the company’s major customers is the Delaware City Refinery and Masterson said some of the WMS employees work at the refinery to ensure materials are being disposed properly.

During the grand opening ceremony today, Governor Markell said he was interested in bringing the business to Delaware because of the environmental benefits and the additional jobs it would bring to the state.

“50 jobs mean 50 more families in this state who have a brighter future than they would have had otherwise and that’s how you have to think about it and that is how we think about it every single day,” said Markell.

Levin added that Waste Master Solutions is one example of how the state is making gains on the unemployment front.

“Unemployment is now down to 6.7 percent, it is still too high but it’s a substantial improvement from the plus-9 percent we were at two years ago,” said Levin. “The governor deserves a lot of credit for putting together the proper means and creating an environment that makes sense for businesses and I think today is an example of that.”

Masterson said the company has been steadily growing during the last year of development and has a goal to add a dozen more jobs to the New Castle facility in the next year.

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