Pa. firm plans 250 local hires

PALMETTO — A global industrial gases manufacturing firm announced plans to build a facility in north Manatee County that it says will lead to 250 jobs over five years.

The company, Allentown, Pa.-based Air Products, plans to purchase 30 acres at Eastport Industrial Park in Palmetto, near Port Manatee, according to a Manatee Economic Development Corp. release. The company will then build a 300,000-square-foot facility where it will manufacture equipment that processes natural gas into liquid form, for easier transport to markets, the EDC says. Air Products will use Port Manatee to ship the large machines worldwide.
 
“Air Products investigated potential locations in the East Coast and Gulf Coast regions, looking for the right combination of deep-water port access and work force availability,” says Sandy McLauchlin, general manager of an Air Products facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in a release. “The Manatee EDC was instrumental in identifying possible properties that would meet our requirements.”

Manatee County officials approved $680,000 in performance-based incentives to woo the company, while Florida officials committed $1.7 million, according to the EDC release. The county also approved a transportation impact fee incentive worth nearly $47,000.

“Air Products' investment in Florida demonstrates our success in recruiting job-producing companies that strengthen our economy as well as our business climate,” Florida Gov. Rick Scott says in the release. “This expansion is welcome news for Manatee County and our state as a whole.”

Air Products had about $10 billion in sales in fiscal 2011. It has more than 18,000 employees in 40 countries. The firm is publicly traded (symbol: APD; recent price: $79.88).