City moves ahead with quarter-million dollars in incentives for manufacturing jobs (Courtesy of the Jacksonville Business Journal) — The city is moving ahead with a quarter of a million dollars in incentives for two projects in Northwest Jacksonville that are looking to create a combined 125 jobs.
The larger of the two projects, codenamed Project Fender, would see the unnamed company investing $2.5 million into renovating a building in the area for a new international headquarters.
The company manufactures marine products, with the U.S. military as one of its major customers.
The project would add 100 manufacturing jobs with an average wage of $45,000, according to the fact sheet.
In return, the city would provide a $200,000 grant from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund. The fund is dedicated to creating jobs in a large chunk of Duval County that lies in a triangle stretching north from downtown to the county border and west from downtown along I-10 to Baldwin.
The company would consolidate its manufacturing operations from other states to the leased building where it could “more easily serve new and existing customers in Florida and the southeastern U.S. market,” according to a legislative fact sheet prepared by the city’s Office of Economic Development.
Project Fender was originally introduced a year ago, with the city looking to provide a $250,000 grant and the company planning to invest $7.4 million to build a facility. The project was scaled back when the company went from building to renovating.
On Monday, the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee unanimously approved the submittal of legislation for the incentives to City Council.
The committee also approved the submittal of legislation for a $50,000 grant from the Northwest fund for a sports apparel manufacturer that recently moved its operation to Marshall Street, in the stadium district.
In May, the company, Sports Addix, acquired Great Atlantic Outfitters, a Jacksonville-based screen-printing business. In the process, Addix relocated its headquarters and operations from Lowell, Michigan, where it was founded in 2006, to Jacksonville.
In an earlier conversation with the Business Journal, CEO Steve Dean emphasized the benefits of running a business in Jacksonville, saying it’s much easier to recruit skilled employees for the companies’ specialized positions in a big city in Florida than it is in Lowell, Michigan, population 4,136.
“There’s a lot to it … and being right downtown in a bigger city, and being able to tap into the resources of a Jacksonville, being offered incentives for the business, has made this a target-rich environment,” Dean said.
Renovating the Marshall Street building and adding new machinery costs about $679,000. The company said it will retain 43 employees and create 25 jobs with an average wage of $51,000.
Photo courtesy of Spencer Davis