‘Cigars are really our DNA’: Swisher CEO on what lies ahead after 100 years in Jacksonville (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — Cigar manufacturer Swisher celebrated its 100th year in Jacksonville with the unveiling of a mural at its Springfield facility to commemorate its history. The mural was painted by Jacksonville artist Martin Torres, who goes by Tilín.
Located near the Phoenix Arts and Innovation District and a stretch of the Emerald Trail, the property has a manufacturing plant for binder and wrappers for tobacco products and also has Swisher’s sole warehouse for shipping across the U.S.
Swisher CEO Neil Kiely (pictured above) said he wants to use the company’s footprint in Jacksonville for the expansion of more manufacturing opportunities. Kiely discussed what lies ahead for the company and how it’s investing in Jacksonville on its centennial anniversary.
Talk to me a little bit about celebrating this with art. Obviously, we’re right next to the Phoenix Arts District. Why was it important to kind of try to spice up the walls of the building from just plain old brick?
We’ve made a major commitment to the city with our contribution of half-a-million dollars … to the Emerald Trail. And we’ve been part of the fabric of the Springfield neighborhood for quite some time. We just thought this is a great representation of the beautification that this whole area is undergoing.
Between the trail and this artwork, we think we’re going to continue that process of continuing to give back to the community and try to enrich it and make it look aesthetically even more pleasing than it is.
How does your business tie into the growth of manufacturing and transportation in the area?
One of the major reasons that the Swisher family moved here in 1924 was because it was such a great logistical situation here both with the ports and the rail lines. And now of course with the interstate system.
Importantly, it was close to a lot of our raw materials, but most importantly it was because we knew they had a great manufacturing base in the city that was pro-business that allowed us to grow. And even more importantly, it’s a great labor base. We’ve got highly committed, highly-skilled workers.
There’s many areas where many manufacturers are having a difficult time finding good labor. We haven’t here because of the longevity, the reputation we have with our workers and the fact that they’re recruiting like-workers here.
What’s your vision for the future of changing markets, and how do you balance the changes with also preserving what was good about the past?
Well, cigars are really our DNA, and we continue to grow. Not only do we have the Swisher division, but we have a premium cigar division called Drew Estate that’s out of Miami. And so we continue to reinvest and reinforce our commitment to cigars, but beyond that, we have a variety of other products.
One of our products is called Rogue, which is called the modern oral nicotine product. We are a major player in that business. And that continues to grow dramatically for us.
And we have a variety of other products that we’re going to bring to the market to continue to build this infrastructure and allow us to grow long term with a diversified portfolio.
Photo courtesy of Swisher