After a proposed city incentive plan sat idle for a year, an unidentified U.S.-based marine products manufacturer and military contractor could move forward with a scaled-back plan to consolidate its domestic manufacturing operations and move its international headquarters into leased space in Northwest Jacksonville.
Code-named Project Fender informed city officials it intends to renovate an existing structure instead of the company’s original plan of building a new facility.
That reduces the project investment from $7.24 million to $2.5 million.
The city did not identify the location.
According to an Oct. 13 project summary from the city Office of Economic Development, the change also reduced the amount of incentives Fender is seeking.
The Mayor’s Budget Review Committee voted 7-0 on Oct. 24 to file legislation with City Council that would award a $200,000 grant from the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund to support the project.
The previous deal would have awarded Fender a $250,000 grant.
The company says the project would create 100 manufacturing jobs at an average annual wage of $45,000 plus benefits, according to the city summary. That remains unchanged from the deal the MBRC advanced in October 2021.
Legislation for the previous version of the deal was not filed with Council.
Kirk Wendland, the city’s executive director of economic development, said Oct. 21 that the company’s recent mergers and acquisitions as well as rising construction costs delayed the decision.
“Due to some of the costs associated with building, they took a step back and were evaluating if they wanted to own the real estate and construct or renovate a leased space,” he said.
In 2021, Wendland said the 100 jobs the company expects to create through facility consolidation would add to its existing Jacksonville workforce of 50 employees.
The city summary says those jobs would need to be in place by Dec. 31, 2023, to qualify for the city grant.
According to the city summary, Fender told officials the incentives were a material factor in its decision to establish its headquarters in Jacksonville.
The $2.5 million investment would include the building renovation in the Northwest portion of the city and machinery and equipment purchases.
The summary says the U.S. military is one of Fender’s largest customers and locating to Jacksonville would allow the company to more easily serve new and existing customers in Florida and the Southeast.
Wendland told the budget committee that Fender specializes in high-grade “inflatables” that can be used in commercial and military-grade marine products. He did not elaborate. Inflatable fenders are used in the maritime industry.
He said Fender is likely being conservative with the estimated project cost and job creation commitments and the proposed deal is likely understating the scope of the final project.
The bill could be filed with Council as early as Nov. 2.