The city and state are considering $331,000 in incentives for The Safariland Group to add 30 jobs, retain 260 positions and invest $1.1 million in a local expansion in North Jacksonville.
Jacksonville-based Safariland is a law enforcement and military equipment company that makes body armor, holsters, duty gear and other products.
It intends to close a location in Massachusetts and transfer operations either to Jacksonville or another of its sites, according to a news release from the city.
Safariland employs 260 people among two Jacksonville locations — the Jacksonville International Tradeport in North Jacksonville and an IT center on the Southside.
Legislation was filed Wednesday for introduction Tuesday to City Council. The Finance Committee would consider it April 21 and full council would vote April 28.
The deal calls for the city to provide incentives up to $104,400 and the state would pay for the remaining $226,600.
The city would provide a $90,000 training grant, or $3,000 per job, from the Jacksonville International Airport Community Redevelopment Area Trust Fund. To qualify, at least 40 percent of the new hires, or 12, must reside in North Jacksonville, defined as north of Interstate 10 and Atlantic Boulevard.
Also, 24 of the 30 jobs would qualify for a $3,000 Qualified Target Industry tax refund, of which the city would rebate 20 percent, or $600 per job. Those jobs would qualify because of their wage levels.
Meanwhile, the state would provide the remaining 80 percent of the QTI, or $2,400 per job, up to $57,600. It also would provide a $39,000 Quick Response Training Grant and up to $130,000 for an Incumbent Worker Training Grant.
That means the state would pay $1,300 to train each new employee and $500 for each existing employee.
The jobs would be added by the end of 2015. Of those, 24 would pay about $42,446 a year, exclusive of benefits, and six would pay $21,200 a year.
QTI refunds would be paid over four years, starting in 2016, after the state Department of Economic Opportunity verifies average wages and job creation.
The company plans to invest in manufacturing equipment and facility upgrades, according to the release. The city dubbed the confidential deal as “Project Shield.”
Construction would start by June 1 and be completed by Sept. 1, 2016.
The release says Safariland’s workforce contributes more than $22 million directly to household incomes in the region.
Safariland LLC President Scott O’Brien said if Jacksonville is chosen, the project would consolidate its hard armor production operations from Massachusetts into its existing soft armor business in Florida. Safariland and its affiliates operate more than a dozen facilities across the country. It also manufactures internationally.
“The synergies of this move, along with the incentives offered by the city and state, will help keep Safariland a globally competitive company,” O’Brien said.
The city’s incentive summary for Project Shield says Safariland is working with representatives of other states for the proposed expansion.
It says the company is a targeted industry in advanced manufacturing and claims the city and state incentives are a material factor in its decision to expand in Florida.
Mayor Alvin Brown said the announcement shows confidence in the city’s “growing economic momentum.”
“More and more companies are increasingly looking to the Jacksonville area as a prime destination to grow and expand,” Brown said.
Safariland has 234 employees in its facility at 13386 International Parkway in North Jacksonville. Its 26 full-time IT employees operate in Southside at 8001 Belfort Parkway.
Safariland was formerly part of Jacksonville-based Armor Holdings Inc. It was one of several businesses in that industry that Armor acquired in the 1990s.
After BAE Systems Inc. acquired Armor for $4.5 billion in 2007, BAE decided to adopt Safariland as the umbrella name to represent all of its law enforcement brands.
In 2012, former Armor CEO Warren Kanders led a group that bought Safariland from BAE for $124 million.
Safariland and its affiliates operate 11 production facilities, two research and development locations, sales offices and its headquarters. Its operations are in Florida, California, Wyoming, New York, West Virginia and Massachusetts.
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