Valley of Opportunity

Along the banks of the Delaware, where Washington's revolutionaries scored their first big victory in 1776, a new kind of revolution has been taking place since World War II. It has turned rolling farm land into acres of industry, converted flatlands into cities. In the past eight years, few sections of the U.S. have undergone more industrialization than the Delaware Valley, stretching from Trenton 60 miles south to Wilmington.

Last week the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia, capital city of the area, totted up some figures to show why residents proudly call it the "valley of opportunity." Since 1945, reported the chamber, industry has planned or built $2.8 billion in new plants in the area; more than half a billion in expansion has come in the last 18 months alone.

Steel & Water. The biggest and best known of the Delaware Valley's new projects is U.S. Steel's giant $450 million Fairless Works at Morrisville, Pa. (TIME, Dec. 12). Started two years ago and now 75% complete, the Fairless Works will soon employ 6,000 and turn out 1,800,000 tons of steel a year, almost 2% of U.S. production. Among the first to follow U.S. Steel to the area: its subsidiary, National Tube, with a $100 million plant. National Steel, fifth largest U.S. producer, has plans for a $300 million plant in Gloucester County, N.J.

The lure of the Delaware Valley is threefold: good rail and water transportation, plenty of labor, and proximity to the biggest market in the U.S.--the 21 million people who live within a radius of 100 miles of Philadelphia. For Big Steel, there has been one flaw: it built at Morrisville with the idea that ore boats from its huge Venezuela iron deposit could come right up the river to the plant. But so far, it has been able to get only smaller ships upriver, with Congress holding back on the money needed to dredge the channel the last 30 miles. Nevertheless, Big Steel is hopeful that its channel will be dredged soon.

The Old & the New. The roster A Delaware Valley companies represents a cross section of both the nation's industry and its best-known names. In addition to such old valley residents as chemical makers Du Pont, Hercules and Atlas, the long list of newcomers includes Chrysler (with its $19 million tank plant at Newark, Del.), National Biscuit (a $10 million plant), Colorado Fuel & Iron (a $50 million works). Among other new industries: textiles, plastics, rubber, smelting.

Throughout the valley, signs of boom are evident: small groceries putting on new fronts, new schools and churches, retail stores opening branches (e.g., Wanamaker's and Sears), housing developments like Levittown, Pa. (pop. 16,000). To supply power for all this new activity, Philadelphia Electric is in the midst of a $365 million expansion program. Said New Jersey's Governor Alfred Driscoll: "The valley represents opportunity unlimited."

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