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Page 2 - Hernando's Motivation by
Melissa wells
Companies
move in
As
officials work to resolve such issues, corporations are selecting
Hernando as headquarters for their operations.
MCR American
Pharmaceuticals Inc. relocated from Birmingham, Ala., to a
new 7,000-square-foot headquarters office and distribution
facility at the Hernando County Airport industrial park. The
company, with 16 employees and $3 million in annual revenues,
manufactures prescription drugs such as cough and cold medicine,
pain medication and appetite suppressants.
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Reinventing
Economic Development
Earlier in the year, amid many criticisms of the techniques
by which the executive leadership of Economic Development
Commission of Hernando County Inc. ran its affairs,
county officials pulled away financial support and essentially
shut down that operation. The county also funded a study
by the University of Florida on the optimal mechanism
for handling its economic development activities.
"We're
preparing the budget to hire staff in the county government
structure for an office of economic development," says
Paul McIntosh, the county's administrator. "The focus
of this office will be to retain our existing business
base and help in their expansion plans. We have a wealth
of state loan grant programs and tax incentives that
businesses aren't taking advantage of because they're
not aware of them.
"We'll
become more active with community block development
programs and how to use them to provide infrastructure
for business expansion," McIntosh says. "We'll start
an aggressive campaign to communicate more with our
existing businesses. That's where 80 percent of expansion
occurs. But we won't forget the recruiting side. We
should have this up and running sometime around October
when they [the county commissioners] adopt our budget."
The
approach to handling recruitment has yet to be determined.
"We're not 100 percent sure," says County Commissioner
Chris Kingsley. "We're working through the University
of Florida study to re-establish a model for recruitment.
We haven't decided on a model yet but that doesn't seem
to be slowing things down. We have more permit applications
for businesses moving to Hernando County than ever before."
Melissa Wells
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"I
chose Hernando County because it's a great place to bring
up a family," says David Ambrose, the firm's president
and chief executive officer. "I like our location at
the airport with proximity to the Suncoast Parkway, less than
an hour to Tampa International Airport. I like the country
atmosphere."
Another
advantage cited by Ambrose is the flexible lease arrangement
provided by ERA Pearson Industries while developer Rick Pearson
constructed the firm's new distribution center and headquarters
office. "It helped that we were only a couple buildings away
while they were constructing it," Ambrose says. "We moved
into our new building months ahead of schedule. It was a very
smooth process."
"We try
to provide a temporary home for [relocating] companies as
much as we can," says Pearson. "This helps put them in a place
and then we have time to design and build a permanent facility
specifically for their needs."
Another
company that started with a regional office at the airport
industrial park is now expanding its operations there. Monitor
Products manufactures heat exchangers for the marine industry
and is preparing to relocate its Long Island, N.Y.-based headquarters
to a new 27,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that Pearson
is developing.
"They
leased 5,000 square feet from us for their Florida operations
three years ago while still maintaining their manufacturing
facility in Long Island," Pearson says. "During that time
they grew here and we were able to provide them an additional
5,000 square feet. Things went so well that they decided to
close the New York operations and relocate everything to Hernando
County. What started as a little satellite operation employing
20 people should in the first quarter of next year be employing
100. This is quite a success story and an example of how,
by helping of our existing manufacturers grow, we generate
a lot of our jobs. This company is going to increase fivefold
from what it was three years ago."
Another
New York-based company is relocating its headquarters to Hernando
Airport in the Corporate AirPark. Omni Circuits International
distributes electronic components, such as capacitors, diodes,
switches, cables and plugs. The 24-employee company distributes
its products worldwide.
"We started
six years ago on a $10,000 credit card, and last year did
over $20 million in sales," says Greg Jarque, the firm's president.
"We expect to be over $30 million this year and hope to employ
40 to 50 people over the next two years in our new facility."
Jarque
cites several reasons for relocating the corporate headquarters
to Hernando. "We were looking around the country and the business
development people here gave us the best deal," he says. "This
is an easy gateway to South America. Included in our decision
is that the infrastructure of the Corporate AirPark with railway
to get our product to market would be the best strategic location
for our office."
The logic
was somewhat similar for the relocation of Creative Design
Manufacturing Co. Inc. from Pasco County to a 7,500-square-foot
facility at Airport Commerce Center, also situated near the
Suncoast Parkway. The company manufactures retail fixtures.
"This is a good location for access to the new parkway and
we're close to U.S. Highway 41," says Lee Parent, the firm's
president.
Creative
Design has six employees. "Most of the stores we do are at
border crossings for people purchasing products before leaving
a country," Parent says. "We do regular retail store work
also, but 99 percent of what we do is for duty-free stores
and 80 percent of that is outside of this country."
The firm
also manufactures custom convention displays for trade shows.
Customers include Kraft Foods Inc., Seagrams America, United
Distillers USA Inc. and Dana Perfume Corporation."
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