Farmers of Salem to bring 60 new jobs, $5.6M investment to downtown Wilmington

Another out-of-state company has decided move its business to Delaware: Farmers of Salem, a 169 year-old regional mutual insurance company from Salem, New Jersey, will relocate to downtown Wilmington (also known as Wilmington’s Central Business District), initially bringing 52 jobs to the city, with five more to be added over the following three years.

The relocation will happen in 2021, after renovating an existing office building in the CSB, investing close to $5.6 million. According to Delaware Prosperity Partnership, the company is in negotiations for a property and has been approved for nearly $400,000 in relocation support grants from the Delaware Strategic Fund.

“Farmers of Salem has evolved from its origins as Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Salem County across three centuries,” said James R. Doherty, president and chief operating officer of Farmers of Salem, in a statement. “Our move to Wilmington will add a 21st-century sensibility to our nearly 17 decades of service to our policyholders and our ongoing commitment to remaining innovative, competitive and stable within the insurance marketplace.”

The Council on Development Finance (CDF) approved Farmers of Salem for a nearly $290,000 Performance Grant and a $112,000 Capital Expenditure Grant, both from the Delaware Strategic Fund, on Jan. 27. Doherty and William A. Dine, senior VP of corporate operations for Farmers of Salem, worked with the Delaware Prosperity Partnership team for their relocation plan presentation to the CDF.