Delmarva Corrugated Packaging (DCP) plant in Dover is slated to receive $1 million in federal funding to support one of the largest rooftop solar panel installations in the state.
DCP's Kent County plant has been operational since December 2021, and CEO Dennis D. Mehiel says the business has employed around 160 people while putting environmental innovation at the forefront of its manufacturing.
“We've had sustainability on our mind since before the first shovel hit dirt, and that was sort of the guiding principle in terms of the facility that we built, and the solar program is simply an extension of that," Mehiel said.
The million dollars from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Energy for America Program will help the facility install 3,700 rooftop solar panels.
The project is expected to pull about one-third of the facility’s power from the sun, and it is estimated the system will take power off the local grid that is equivalent to the electricity needed to power 250 homes.
Mehiel says they hope to start the installation by the end of 2024 and expect to have the solar panels up and running by early 2025.
DCP’s plant was already built to be 30% more energy efficient than required, and Mehiel says he hopes to continue building upon these climate-friendly initiatives.
In addition to the environmental protection efforts, Mehiel is proud of the economic growth the plant has brought to Kent County since opening in 2021.
“We're employing more than 100 people in the facility at this point and paying above market wages. We are unionized and happy about that, so things have gone according to plan of how we anticipated the growth of the workforce and obviously the business that we're running through the facility that supports those jobs."
Mehiel is also excited about DCP’s partnership with Autism Delaware, which the businesses donated $10,000 to in June for supporting participation in social opportunities for families experiencing autism.
