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Economic Development Corporation: Niagara to bring at least 55 new jobs to area

By Wesley LeBlanc wesley@opcfla.com
Posted 6/30/21

MIDDLEBURG – Niagara Bottling LLC is one of the largest suppliers of bottled water in the United States and it’s bringing a new manufacturing facility to Middleburg. And with it, at least 55 new …

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Economic Development Corporation: Niagara to bring at least 55 new jobs to area


Posted

MIDDLEBURG – Niagara Bottling LLC is one of the largest suppliers of bottled water in the United States and it’s bringing a new manufacturing facility to Middleburg. And with it, at least 55 new jobs with an average annual wage higher than the county’s average salary.

The Board of County Commissioners approved incentive grants for the bottle manufacturing facility on Feb. 9 and on April 27, the deal was finalized. “Project Belle” became a codename that was attached to this deal, according to the Clay County Economic Development Corporation.

“Codenames are used for projects for competitive purposes,” Clay EDC President JJ Harris said. “For example, if a selling agent for land learns that Amazon is looking to purchase their land, they could artificially inflate the sale price as a result. A company should only have to pay market value for land purchases. If land is inflated, the market value will outpace the surrounding offerings and Clay County will not win any further projects.”

This buying tactic isn’t unique. Famously, Walt Disney purchased more than 25,000 acres of land for what is now Disney World in the Lake Buena Vista area under multiple names because he knew if landowners knew he was behind the purchases, they’d raise their prices.

Water-Ade Properties LLC, which is attached to Niagara Bottling, purchased roughly 150 acres at the Middleburg site at 565 Atlantis Drive on April 2 for $6.4 million, and master plans show the first phase of construction to be about 554,000 square feet with an additional expansion of 262,080 square feet coming at a later time. It will cost about $30 million to build and another $40 million to fill up with manufacturing equipment and machinery.

Niagara is currently estimating that it will need to employ 55 people, but Harris said he wouldn’t be surprising if the number doubled.

“Job creation estimates and project cost estimates are usually minimums,” the commission released. “They are typically significantly lower than what an employer ends up spending or needing to hire. Companies are conservative in their estimates to ensure they can meet requirements. Niagara is hiring a minimum of 55 employees. Likely, they will hire double that.”

Each of the 55 jobs will come with a salary of roughly $40,001 to $40,793, plus benefits, which is higher than the county average of $39,605. The Clay EDC said having high-wage jobs, which are defined as paying at least 1% greater than the current median salary, available close to home is a huge quality of life benefit for residents. Not only will these people be paid higher than the average job here in Clay County, but because they live in Clay County, commuting times will be short thanks to the facility’s Middleburg location just east of the First Coast Expressway.

Harris said there are currently 50,729 jobs in Clay County for a workforce of 111,283 so the need for jobs is there and Niagara could bring as many as 100 high-paying jobs.

Niagara and the county considered Middleburg residents and what kind of effect the 555,000 square foot bottling facility could have on the area. It determined it will be minimal. That’s because the company kept the Middleburg community in mind while the bottling facility a reality.

It will affect Middleburg in a couple of ways: It will bring high-paying jobs to the area and open up the wider Clay County to additional opportunities like this thanks to a “successful business retention and expansion program...that will ensure Niagara continues to grow and provide more jobs to the community for years to come,” Niagara said.

As far as traffic goes, which is often the biggest concern when it comes to large-scale projects, the First Coast Expressway should quiet most concerns.

“The truck traffic from Niagara Bottling will flow immediately onto the First Coast Expressway from the interchange across from Trail Ridge Road,” Harris said. “It will not travel through any neighborhoods or connector roads. The easy on-off access from the First Coast Expressway is what attracted this project to Clay County. The traffic will have minimal local impact and truck traffic will be significantly less than any other proposed land uses for that parcel.”

So if you live in the Challenger Drive area, you won’t be seeing Niagara Bottling trucks driving through your neighborhood. Former Florida Sen. Rob Bradley is the Vice Chairman of the St. Johns River Water Management District and staunch supporter of water rights and conservation and he’s given the project his blessing.

The backbone of the project is the BCC’s approval of an Economic Development Grant and Tangible Personal Property Capital Investment Grant. Harris said the grants are reimbursements of a portion of taxes paid.

“The company will pay the land purchase costs, construction costs and utility extension costs to bring utilities to the site, which are significant and provide the community with more local dollars,” Harris said.

The EDC said the county only makes money if new companies move into the area.

“These companies do not cost the county,” he said. “They only benefit every taxpayer.”

Harris said Niagara Bottling wasn’t paid by Clay County.

“A lot of times, they do their own independent research before we even know they’re looking,” according to Harris. “Sometimes, they’ll come straight to the county. At that point, it means Clay County is typically on a shortlist and then after an evaluation, the company will determine criteria especially important to them. This helps them narrow down their shortlist even further and at this point, the company is doing deep scrubs on the area and potential location to ensure it meets their needs.

“Every project is different and every company has very specific needs. They make their own evaluations based on their own different criteria. Niagara had a very template-based list of needs and evaluations and when looking at the possible communities to bring this facility to, they determined Clay County was the best fit for their needs and we won.”

Diving into the water impacted by the deal, Clay County Utility Authority public relations and government affairs lead Celeste Goldberg said a developer agreement between CCUA and Water-Ade Properties LLC was struck on Feb. 26.

“Water-Ade has paid a total of $2,586,270.42 in capacity charges and related fees,” Goldberg said. “They have purchased 2,113 equivalent residential connections, which provides up to 950,850 gallons per day of potable water. Up to 949,950 gallons per day are allocated to the bottling facility and 900 gallons per day are allocated for a 5,000-square-foot office building.”

Goldberg said if a prospective commercial customer requests service to a new business and plant capacity and infrastructure are available to serve the property, CCUA must provide service according to its Service Availability Policy. As the agreement between CCUA and Water-Ade Properties LLC signifies, the plant capacity and proper infrastructure were available for the Water-Ade property and so CCUA had to agree to provide service.

“Water-Ade inquired if CCUA had existing and adequate capacity to serve its business in the location they were considering,” Goldberg continued. “CCUA has permitted allocation along with idle existing infrastructure in place that could accommodate the company’s request. CCUA followed its Service Availability Policy consistent with all other prospective customers. In addition to the fees already paid, Water-Ade will be responsible for paying monthly base facility charges and usage charges for each meter installed on their commercial property.”

Niagara Bottling is a water bottle company that’s easily recognized. Their bottles of water are sold in most grocery stores. The company is based in California, but it has more than two dozen locations throughout the United States, including two in other facilities in Florida.

Construction is currently underway on the facility and Niagara Bottling hopes to have it up and running by the first quarter of 2022. For those interested in working at this manufacturing facility, continue to visit https://careers.niagarawater.com/us/en.