by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
It isn’t often a project that involves a public/private partnership with a major national corporation — one that also requires plenty of community involvement and convincing — comes together so well. But, that’s exactly what happened when Cornerstone, the economic development arm of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Baker County Chamber and officials from Wal-Mart began discussions about bringing a Wal-Mart distribution center to the Macclenny area.
Talks started seven years ago, and it’s only fair to say the center is primarily responsible for the major overhaul of Baker County and its economy. Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Jerry Mallot helped negotiate what he calls a “watershed” deal — one that was financially backed by Baker County borrowing money based on the property value of the land Wal-Mart wanted with the intention of paying off that loan with the taxes generated by Wal-Mart’s addition to the county’s ad valorem taxes.
Mallot said that kind of incentive package isn’t for everyone, but in this case it made sense and it’s paying off today.
“It was heralded at the time as the deal of the year in Florida,” he said of the $49 million, 900,000-square-foot center. “It changed the property tax base dramatically and employed 1,000 to become the county’s largest employer.”
In addition to Mallot, three others played key roles in the deal: Baker County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Darryl Register, Wal-Mart General Manager Bobby Steele and Jackson Shaw Regional Development Partner Thomas Jones.
Steele said the Macclenny location was appealing thanks to the proximity to major interstates I-10, I-95 and I-75. The biggest issue to Steele was finding the nearly 1,000 employees it would take to man the center.
“The biggest challenge was the job aspect. We were not sure where we would get people,” said Steele. “We had to outsource the application process. We needed 400 to 500 people immediately.”
Register said the population of Baker County at the time was just less than 22,000.
“That was one of the largest issues we had to overcome,” said Register. who, through his county’s membership in the Jacksonville Chamber, enlisted the help of Cornerstone.
A survey was done and the results proved pleasantly surprising. “Over 44,000 people said they would work in Macclenny for $9 to $11 an hour,” said Register.
Today, Steele, who has opened three other Wal-Mart distribution centers, says the average wage at the distribution center is $16–$17 an hour.
Register said the economic impact has been across the county. Before the center, the average private annual salary in Baker County was $16,500. Today, it’s $35,000.
Wal-Mart has also had an effect on the tax base. Before the center, Register said 80 percent of the tax roll was funded by government-owned property or agricultural purposes.
“The first year, ad valorem taxes paid by Wal-Mart were over 10 percent of the taxes,” he said. “You can see the need we had for capital investment and private sector jobs.
“From the industrial development side, this did put Baker County on the map.”
Register said over the course of the first five years, the center has accounted for more than $152 million that otherwise would not be flowing through or staying in Baker County.
“That means there is over $45 million available for consumption and savings,” he said.
Mallot said the success in Baker County provided impetus for Wal-Mart to expand further into Northeast Florida. He said the national chain is in the final stages of approving a similar 800,000 square foot center in Putnam County that will create 600 new jobs.