Legislation for Project Blaze, the code-named eco-friendly Midwest-based hair-care product maker, will be introduced to City Council on Tuesday.
According to a city legislative fact sheet, the unidentified company, in business since in the mid-1980s, wants to invest $11 million to buy and equip a 170,000-square-foot building off Beach Boulevard in Southside to make and distribute its products.
City Office of Economic Development Executive Director Kirk Wendland told the Mayor’s Budget Review Committee the location is in the EastPark business center.
Blaze currently makes its products in the Midwest and is looking for an expansion location in the Southeast.
Blaze proposes to create 150 jobs over five years at an average annual wage of $50,000. It seeks a $450,000 Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund from the city and state based on $3,000 per job.
The city would pay 20 percent, or $600, per job for a total up to $90,000.
The state would pay 80 percent, or $2,400 per job, for a total of up to $360,000.
The economic development agreement states that 75 jobs would be created by the end of 2018, followed by 25 jobs each by yearend 2019 and 2020 and 15 in 2021. The final 10 jobs would be created by year-end 2022.
The QTI refund would be paid after the jobs are created and the average wage is verified by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity. The proposed four-year payout would start in 2019.
Blaze receives a manufacturing project waiver from the state Department of Economic Opportunity reducing the minimum average wage requirement from 115 percent to 107.9 percent of the average annual private-sector wage in the state as of Jan. 1, according to the legislation, Resolution 2018-338.
The resolution approves the execution of the economic development agreement between the city and Blaze.
A city summary says the jobs would be created by Dec. 31, 2022, and generate a $7.5 million annual payroll, excluding benefits.
The $11 million capital investment covers manufacturing equipment, furniture and real estate purchases and improvements.
Blaze requests fast-track approval for council to vote on the legislation after two readings rather than three.
The city considers the company a high-impact target industry because it is a manufacturer and said Blaze stated the combination of city and state incentives is a material factor in its decision to expand in Jacksonville.
Council meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.