Project Speed’s identity will be disclosed in the next few weeks, according to an email Friday to some City Council members and others from Ted Carter, executive director and CEO of the city’s Office of Economic Development.
“Due to the sensitivity of the company’s hiring process for the proposed facility, we are unable to disclose its name or proposed site location at this time. Those details will be disclosed at some point in the next few weeks,” Carter said in the memo, whose subject line was “TY Project Speed.”
The identity is widely believed to be GE Oil & Gas, which has been posting career opportunities the past several weeks for jobs in Jacksonville. One refers to a new facility and another refers to a factory relocation from Illinois.
GE Oil & Gas Measurement & Control posted an opening Aug. 29 for a “site lean leader” who “will be involved in long-term planning and contribute to the overall business strategy for a new facility.”
Several of the postings refer to the manufacturing, engineering and design of control-valve products. The Becker product line is included in some of the listings.
The city referred questions to the company, which said it had nothing to announce at this time. The JAX Chamber declined comment.
Carter’s email was to thank the recipients, which included some city officials, for adopting the Project Speed legislation Sept. 3.
He wrote that over the past five months, his office has been working with the JAXUSA Partnership of the JAX Chamber and Enterprise Florida to secure a Fortune 500 company that wanted to establish an advanced manufacturing operation in the southeastern United States.
He said Jacksonville competed with about 12 jurisdictions.
“After several rounds of negotiations, one of in which we were eliminated — we made the shortlist and were eventually selected closing a $15M differential between Jacksonville and the #1 ranked site,” he wrote.
The incentives legislation calls for a $15.4 million total package of assistance. City Council approved the incentives package by a 17-0 vote Tuesday night.
The project includes hiring at least 500 people by the end of 2016, at an average salary of $48,850.
“We are expecting both the wage and overall headcount to be higher, based on our conversations,” Carter wrote.
The project is expected to ultimately include more than $89 million in real estate construction and improvements and expenditures on manufacturing equipment, he wrote.
Carter said the company chose Jacksonville because of its labor pool, quality of life, tax structure and JaxPort, which will be used by the company.
Carter also wrote he is confident the project “will allow us to attract other advanced manufacturing operations that may have never considered Jacksonville in the past, for an expansion and/or relocation.”
He considers the project will be “a transformational incentive deal” for the city and state for three reasons:
• It continues the progress in making Jacksonville a manufacturing hub joining companies like Embraer, Saft and Vistakon.
• The company’s selection of Jacksonville to build its manufacturing operations will continue to build Jacksonville’s brand as a diversified business economy focused on manufacturing, which is key to job creation.
• The company’s presence will produce follow-on supply chain investment and other non-quantifiable benefits, such as training and other community investments.
Further, Carter thanked Mayor Alvin Brown, council members who encouraged the Office of Economic Development to think “outside the box” with the incentives package, JAXUSA President Jerry Mallot, JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis and Enterprise Florida.
Carter said the seeds of the project were a result of a business development trip “to meet with our partners.”
On Aug. 6, city and chamber officials told reporters that the unidentified Fortune 500 company wanted to build a large advanced manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, creating 500 jobs and investing up to $91 million in capital investments in exchange for $15.4 million in taxpayer incentives.
The identity could be kept confidential until the first quarter of 2015 and it went through council incentives discussions by its code name.
The city would be responsible for $10 million of the $15.4 million in incentives. The state is responsible for the remaining
$5.4 million.
A Recaptured Enhanced Value Grant worth $6.5 million is the largest component of the city’s amount. Paid over 15 years, the grant is equal to 75 percent of the incremental increase in property taxes the company would generate through its investment.
A new type of city incentive for advanced manufacturing was created for the deal.
Called the Economic Development Manufacturing Employer Grant, the new program will pay out $400 per employee, per year for 15 years for the deal. It’s worth $3 million and was referred to as a “bonus” to the typical Qualified Targeted Industry grant for workforce creation.
Paul Crawford, with the city Office of Economic Development, said in August the company would select Jacksonville if the incentives deal was approved.
The project would need 500,000 to 1 million square feet of space and would create 35 jobs by the end of this year.
Those factors point to AllianceFlorida at Cecil Commerce Center as a possible location. Hillwood Investment Properties, the master developer of the city-owned business park, is building a speculative 510,433-square-foot tilt panel warehouse at Cecil that can be expanded to 1 million square feet. It is expected to be completed this fall.
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