The Baker County Development Commission announced July 19 that a public-private partnership with Plant Agricultural Systems Inc. is moving forward in Baker County.
On April 4, the Board of County Commissioners approved an inducement and development agreement with the company.
Plant Agricultural Systems is a Fort Lauderdale-based infrastructure service provider delivering the physical and digital infrastructure necessary to support localized fresh produce demand in all regions of the world, according to a news release from the company.
It will develop nearly 2,000 acres of advanced Controlled Environment Agriculture production as a part of its phase one domestic operations roll out, including a previously announced 1,100 acres in West Texas.
“Plant Agricultural Systems’ Controlled Environment Agriculture Distributed Network Production Facility in Baker County will be transformational for our county. The capital investment, employee wages and benefits and overall economic impact will certainly bring about the most positive growth that a rural county can ever experience,” Darryl Register, executive director of the Baker County Development Commission and the Baker County Chamber of Commerce, said in the release.
“This innovative project is an incredible win for Baker County and we thank Plant Agricultural Systems for bringing their investment and leading-edge technology to our region,” Aundra Wallace, president of JAXUSA Partnership, JAX Chamber’s seven-county regional economic development organization for Northeast Florida, said in the release.
The project includes the development of 8.1 million square feet of advanced production facilities on 772 acres in Sanderson. Fresh produce, including leafy greens and vine crops such as tomatoes, will be grown using hydroponic technology.
The release said the company will commit a projected $750 million in capital expenditure for the project, which will scale up operations over eight years to hire more than 600 full-time employees with starting wages, including benefits, of $21 an hour.
The state supported the development of the Woodstock Industrial property, where this project will be located, with a $2.29 million grant which funded the entrance road infrastructure.
The Baker County Development Commission anticipates operations to begin approximately 24 months after the closing on the property, the release said.