Two Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions were approved last week. One will bring Garland Foods to town and the other
The City of Plant City had another big win last week when city commissioners welcomed Garland, LLC to town.
Garland has been around for more than two decades and is one of the major suppliers of fresh products in the southern and northeastern United States. Based in Miami, the company imports raw materials from all over the world, including America, Africa, Asia and Europe. It uses U.S. labor to process the food, which is then sold to different channels.
They eyed Plant City for a new facility for quite some time and the “welcoming climate” of the partnership between the Plant City EDC and the City of Plant City sealed the deal.
“I received only support and encouragement, which it made me and my partners feel extremely comfortable with the decision of investing in Plant City,” Luciano Lopez-May, CEO of Garland, LLC, said. “We see this as a first step and we’re looking forward to working with all of you, to engaging with the community in a deeper manner and being welcomed and working with a future here. Thank you very much and I’m looking forward to shaking your hand in the near future when we can do so.”
Commissioners held a public hearing on June 22 to discuss granting an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Garland, LLC. Garland told the city it would employ at least 10 new full-time equivalent employees in a new business in Plant City and that it will “make a capital investment in such new business in excess of $2,000,000 prior to the commencement of any exemption granted under the Program,” according to the ordinance.
The company stated in its Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Supplemental Application it considered “purchasing, upfitting, equipping and expanding an existing 29, 950-square foot industrial building for sale in Plant City.” It also said the company is considering designing and constructing an approximately 34,000 square feet pre-engineered building.
City Manager Bill McDaniel said Plant City has become an ideal location for companies looking to expand or relocate their facilities. Right along the I-4 corridor, the city falls between Tampa and Orlando and commissioners have made it a point to have designated industrial sectors ready to go for anyone who wants to begin the transition to the community.
These tax exemptions are central to the appeal and Plant City residents voted to approve the referendum on Nov. 2, 2010, with 68 percent for and 32 percent against. Then on April 25, 2011, commissioners enacted an ordinance to grant such exemptions.
Now the EDC works with the City of Plant City to market the community to businesses that are searching for a new home. It’s how major wins like the upcoming Home Depot facility, the new Culver’s on Park Road, Lakeside Logistics Park and countless others were landed. The same cooperative environment is what brought Garland to town.
“We meet with them, we have discussions, we kind of assess their needs and figure out how we can address them,” McDaniel said. “We facilitate through the building review process and everything else. We make this a very welcoming climate for these businesses because they help build our economy. They bring jobs, they benefit individuals with those jobs and they benefit the overall city with the taxes they will pay and contribute. It’s just a win-win all the way around.”
A similar exemption was also awarded that evening to Saputo Dairy Foods USA, LLC. The company told the city it would maintain its existing 98 jobs as well as employ at least 54 new full-time equivalent employees in an expansion of the business.
The company said the new employees will have an average annual wage of “at least 100 percent of the average annual private sector wage” and vowed it would make a capital investment in the expansion of the current business “of at least $200,000 per full-time equivalent employee prior to the commencement of any exemption granted under the Program.”
The company is looking to expand its current facility at 3304 Sydney Road.
Saputo was founded in 1954 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada. It is one of the top ten dairy processors in the world and across the globe has more than 17,600 employees.
