by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The proposed relocation of IBA PT, Inc.’s national headquarters from Edgewood, N.Y. to Jacksonville got the unanimous approval of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Thursday. Ion Beam Application is the Brussels, Belgium-based company that built and maintains the $50 million dollar proton beam therapy system at the $125 million Proton Beam Therapy Institute at Shands Jacksonville.
The move will create 20 new, full-time jobs expected to pay, on average, $85,000 a year. IBA is a 20-year-old company that does business in five countries and on three continents. Last year the company reported revenue of $230 million and has more than 50 percent of the world’s market in particle therapy.
“They are the undisputed world leader in proton therapy care,” said JEDC project manager Lindsey Ballas.
IBA currently employs 15 engineers and maintenance workers at Shands and plans to invest $185,000 in tenant improvements in either Springfield or Downtown. The addition of 20 employees would infuse approximately $1.7 million into the company’s annual local payroll. However, relocating to Jacksonville will allow IBA to increase its presence in the United States.
“We project to sell four more facilities every year with 50-75 percent of those in the United States,” said Vincent Collignon, project manager/USA operations director for IBA. “In the long term, starting in 2010, we would like to sell 10 a year.”
Ballas said IBA intends to use its Jacksonville headquarters and facility as a research facility and model for others across the state and nation. Under the proposal, IBA is seeking public investment through the State of Florida’s Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund Program. The expected wages qualifies IBA for $5,000 per job created for a total QTI of $100,000. However, the guidelines of the program stipulate that 80 percent of those funds will come from the State while 20 percent will come from the City. And, they hinge completely on IBA moving and hiring 20 new people.
“If the company doesn’t perform, there is no loss to the City and no loss to the State,” said Ballas. “The real cost to the City is $20,000.”
The JEDC also approved the issuance of up to $135 million in Industrial Development Revenue and Refunding Bonds for Shands’ Proton Beam Therapy Institute. Shands has paid the $10,000 application fee for the bond and intends to pay an additional $337,500 upon the issuance of the bonds, according to JEDC project manager Steve Emery. The bond may be used for the following: pay or reimburse a part of the costs of the project; refund the refunded debt; pay certain capitalized interest on the bonds; fund a debt service reserve fund for the bonds; or pay certain costs of issuing the bonds and refunding the refunded debt.
“There is no liability to the City or the JEDC,” said Emery. “There is no liability on the debt service.”
JEDC Chairman Bob Rhodes recused himself from the vote because his law firm — Foley & Lardner — is involved, but called the Proton Beam Therapy Institute an “absolutely marvelous facility.”
In other action from the meeting:
• The JEDC approved a land swap deal with the Clara White Mission. Under the terms of the deal, the Mission will purchase four parcels in LaVilla adjacent to its Ashley Street facility for $454,785. Those lots were appraised at $750,000. However, the Mission is making up for a majority of the difference by deeding two of its properties — valued at $200,000 — to the City at no cost. Environmental issues have been discovered on the two parcels, but the Mission has offered to pay for the remediation costs.
Once acquired, the Mission plans to build Ashley Oaks, a 50-unit affordable housing facility for its culinary school students and graduates. The three-story building will house the 400-500 square-foot units with office/commercial space on the first floor.
CEO and President of the Clara White Mission Ju’Coby Pittman-Peele said her culinary graduates will make between $8 and $25 an hour and the plan is to eventually serve as a model for similar facilities across the state.
“We are the only one in the state that has a culinary program with temporary housing,” she said. “We want to take that template and market it across the state and country.”
• The JEDC also approved a lease with Florida Community College at Jacksonville to lease space at Cecil Commerce Center to develop a temporary commercial vehicle training facility while FCCJ constructs a permanent facility at its Cecil campus. John Alderson of the JEDC said this kind of training enables drivers to earn $50,000-$80,000 within a couple of years.
“These are the kind of jobs this would create,” he said. “The benefit to the City is the benefit of having such a training facility out there.”