Johnson & Johnson announced June 15 it will invest more than $1 billion in Jacksonville to strengthen its Vision operations.
The New Jersey-based healthcare company said in a news release it will scale its U.S.-based manufacturing, packaging and distribution capabilities as it builds a Jacksonville distribution center and invests in advanced manufacturing and packaging technologies to add capacity and meet demand for its ACUVUE-brand contact lenses.
“This investment reinforces our long-standing conviction that advanced manufacturing in the United States is essential to delivering innovative, high quality healthcare solutions to patients at home and around the world,” said Joaquin Duato, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, in a news release.
“By further strengthening our Vision operations in Jacksonville with next-generation manufacturing, packaging and distribution capabilities, we are enhancing the resilience of our U.S. supply chain while helping more people see better and live better. This commitment reflects the confidence we have in our people, our technology, and our more than 40-year legacy of advancing eye health globally.”
The announcement is part of Johnson & Johnson’s previously announced $55 billion U.S. investment in manufacturing, research and development, and technology through early 2029.
Construction of the new Jacksonville facility, identified for Airport Commerce Center in Northwest Jacksonville, is underway with the goal of being fully operational in 2028.
The announcement said the investment builds on the company’s $6 billion annual economic impact in Florida and supports the continued growth of its Jacksonville operations and its 3,500 area employees.
Johnson & Johnson established its Jacksonville presence in 1981. Its campus is at 7500 Centurion Parkway in Deerwood Park along Southside Boulevard.
“Johnson & Johnson’s commitment is a strong vote of confidence in Jacksonville, our workforce, and our future,” Mayor Donna Deegan said in the release.
“Jacksonville continues to lead in advanced manufacturing and life sciences innovation. This expansion strengthens our high-tech footprint while creating quality jobs and long-term opportunities for our community.”
Johnson & Johnson said that its Jacksonville operations have advanced eye health through innovative optical solutions, “helping to improve sight for more than 40 million patients in the U.S. and around the world.”
Johnson & Johnson manufactures more than 1.7 billion ACUVUE contact lenses annually for U.S. patients.
It said it maintains more than 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing, research, distribution, and operations facilities in Florida.
Incentives for assistance
Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is set to receive $12 million in city incentives to construct the packaging distribution facility and install new high-tech equipment at its Southside campus.
Jacksonville City Council gave final approval to the incentives with a 16-0 vote April 28.
Under the agreement with the city, Johnson & Johnson committed to investing $50 million for construction of the facility plus $500 million for manufacturing equipment.
The incentives would be two Recapture Enhanced Value Grants. One is a five-year, 60% grant of up to $1.5 million for the construction of the facility. The other is a five-year, 40% grant of up to $10.5 million for the equipment.
A REV grant is a refund on ad valorem tax revenue generated by a new development or property enhancement. It can apply to real property and tangible personal property.
The Northwest Jacksonville facility will be developed at Airport Commerce Center, north of Jacksonville International Airport, according to legislation.
The Suddath Cos. of Jacksonville is developing Airport Commerce Center. The industrial park is designed for five industrial buildings totaling about 3 million square feet of space west of Pecan Park Road and south of Arnold Road, also called Gold Star Family Parkway.
The property is west of Interstate 95 and west of the Jacksonville Port Authority North Jacksonville marine terminals.
Ed Randolph, city director of economic development, said Johnson & Johnson is working with a developer to build up to a 1 million-square-foot packaging and distribution facility in Northwest Jacksonville.
Suddath identifies a prospective 1.08 million-square-foot building as Phase 3. That phase is in city civil engineering plan review, a necessary step before development.
Those plans also show the proposed Building G at nearly 1.08 million square feet on a 118.53-acre site of which about 47.42 acres can be developed.
Randolph said the new equipment would be for Johnson & Johnson’s Deerwood Park manufacturing facility for disposable contact lenses.
According to legislation, the facility will add 10 jobs to Johnson & Johnson’s 3,500-employee workforce by the end of 2028. Under terms of the agreement between the city and Johnson & Johnson, the REV grants will be terminated if the company does not maintain 1,964 jobs through the term of the grants.
The summary states that Johnson & Johnson Vision Care manufactures 90% of the U.S. supply of ACUVUE contact lenses from its Jacksonville facility.
The summary says the city’s return on investment will be $4.86 for every $1 in incentives, according to a staff report. The report also says that for Johnson & Johnson, the incentives “are a material factor in its decision to expand its operations here in Jacksonville” after conducting a search for alternative locations.
Jacksonville history
Johnson & Johnson has been making contact lenses in Jacksonville since 1981, when it acquired a Jacksonville company called Frontier Contact Lenses.
The business was renamed Vistakon and operated under that name for three decades, but the company transitioned to the name Johnson & Johnson Vision Care in the mid-2010s.
Johnson & Johnson Vision expanded beyond contact lenses in 2017 with a $4.3 billion acquisition of Abbott Medical Optics, which added ophthalmic products for cataract surgery, laser refractive surgery and consumer eye health to the business.
The surgical vision products are made outside of Jacksonville but the overall Vision subsidiary continues to be headquartered in Jacksonville.
Contributing Writer Mark Basch added to this report.