Anti-mold firm plans 52 hires in Bradenton

BRADENTON — New South Biolabs, a newly formed entity that will sell anti-mold, bacteria and fungi products made by a Toronto-based company, plans to open a distribution center in southern Manatee County.

New South Biolabs, according to a press release, intends to hire 52 employees over the next five years to staff the 15,000-square-foot facility in the Parkland Center, located at U.S. 301 and 63rd Avenue East. The firm will receive up to $104,000 in performance-based incentives from Manatee County for the jobs, according to the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp. The jobs must have an average wage at least 50% higher than the current the local area wage of $35,633. The company's facility also qualified for the county's rapid response permitting program, according to the release.

“Two years in the making, this is the first international project directly resulting from the EDC's outreach initiative that began in 2011 through a grant provided by Manatee County Government,” Bradenton Area EDC President and CEO Sharon Hillstrom says in the statement.

New South Biolabs has a distribution agreement with Toronto-based Biosenta. The firm, under the ZeroMold brand name, manufactures a line of retail anti-microbial products that is says will kill mold, bacteria and fungi on contact and prevent regrowth.

“The Bradenton area offered a number of attributes that attracted us,” says New South Biolabs President Bill Connor, who visited the Bradenton area numerous times to investigate the community and review site options presented by the EDC. “We need a warm climate to help protect the product from damage, the cost of doing business was attractive, and we value proximity to Port Manatee for future distribution.”

New South Biolabs will market and distribute ZeroMold throughout the southern United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. ZeroMold was approved by Health Canada in October 2012, according to the EDC release, and U.S. EPA applications were submitted in July 2013. Approvals are projected in the first quarter of 2014, the company says. The company plans to have a full science lab at its facility, and expects to start hiring and training staff in 2014.