County makes big gains in economic development

The northern outpost of Tampa Bay seeks to gain economic development heft behind an aggressive campaign.

By Mark Gordon
| 6:00 a.m. October 4, 2019
| 2 Free Articles Remaining!

Courtesy. Fleda Pharmaceuticals Corp., a startup gummy vitamins company, has plans to build a headquarters project in Pasco County.

Commercial Real Estate

Pasco County is taking its vitamins.

Known mostly for its multiple Tampa bedroom communities — and growing traffic — the county has gained strength and scored some major economic development wins in the past month, focused on national and regional headquarters projects. The list of new entities varies from a startup pharmaceutical company to a civic infrastructure firm. (See related story on Moffitt Cancer Center’s proposed project in Pasco.)

Change up

Economic development officials often talk about the big win that could define a town or region, if not on an Amazonian scale, then something like Hertz moving its corporate offices to Lee County. Or a decade ago Scripps Research choosing Jupiter, on Florida’s east coast, for a 350,000-square-foot biomedical facility.

Pasco County leaders believe they might have their coveted victoy, with the mid September announcement that the centerpiece of a proposed 800-acre mixed-used and corporate business park will be an H. Lee Moffitt Cancer facility. The development, which will house a research institute focused on immunology from the cancer treatment and research leader, is in central Pasco, east of the Suncoast Parkway and south of State Road 52. Immunology is a form of cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system, and has been the focus of a wave of research and studies.

“The big advancement at Moffitt has been with immunology over the last few years, and they need a new campus to do that with their partners,” says Pasco Economic Development Council President and CEO Bill Cronin. “This is the size of Central Park (in New York City.) People use the word gamechanger so much it’s overused but this really is a gamechanger.”

Pasco County commissioners approved the zoning and land use changes that will allow the project go on for further review. The larger development surrounding the Moffitt facility would include some 11,000 home homes and other uses, including hotels and more office space. Pasco County Commissioner Mike Wells, born and raised in Pasco, says while the proposed project is in “its very early stages,” like Cronin, the potential is so big it’s hard to grasp.

‘This is a shining example of what the commission has been pursuing,” says Wells, who adds that the development puts the work into live-work-play. “We’ve always been known as a bedroom community so for us to get this is amazing.”

Cronin and other officials stress that the final size, and progress, of the project depends on funding. Moffitt officials, says Cronin, will likely seek a portion of the state’s cigarette revenue tax to fund it. If and when funding is in place, Cronin looks to the multiplier effect of Moffitt to keep building momentum. “This is real world validation,” says Cronin, “of people investing in Pasco County.”

The county, says Pasco Economic Development Council President and CEO Bill Cronin, is having a moment of notoriety that stems from a decision three years ago to aggressively pursue new businesses and help current business expand. “We have the available land, and we have the workforce,” Cronin says in a mid-September phone call in between meetings with companies in France. He also has a trip coming up to pitch Pasco in China. Most of the funds for the push comes from Penny for Pasco, a two-time voter approved infrastructure surtax.

One result of Cronin and his team’s past trips and consistent marketing came to fruition in late August. That’s when Phillips & Jordan, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based heavy civil infrastructure contractor, announced plans to build a regional corporate headquarters in the One Pasco Center business park. Just east of the State Road 52 and Interstate 75 intersection, site plans for the five-acre, three-story, $15 million project include a new 47,432 square foot Class A office building. The company plans to move 40 employees onto two floors of the office building, according to a statement, leaving one available for speculative space.

“This is going to be a huge project for the area,” says Cronin in the statement, adding that the firm’s decision to include speculative office space in the project is more high-level validation for Pasco. Phillips & Jordan, founded in 1952, established a Pasco County location more than 20 years ago.

While Phillips & Jordan has been in business for nearly seven decades, another major Pasco County economic development win is a startup pharmaceutical manufacturing company, Fleda Pharmaceuticals Corp. Fleda’s first product, says CEO John Wang, is gummy vitamins. “Our team saw the need to produce something that won’t give you the typical pill fatigue that comes from taking multiple pills and vitamins every day,” Wang says in a statement.

While several gummy vitamins are already on the market, Wang, formerly a physician and CEO of a pharmaceutical company in his native China, says the potential for Fleda to grab market share is “overwhelming.”

“There’s a lot of space for a (startup) like us,” Wang adds in an interview.

Mark Wemple. John Wang moved to the Tampa region five years ago and worked for a medical device firm before launching a startup, Fleda Pharmaceuticals Corp.

Fleda’s new proposed facility, a $4 million project including the land purchase, will be in Odessa, on Byrd Legg Drive. The company acquired an existing office building and a 9,600 square foot warehouse there about a year ago. It plans to build a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practices dietary supplement manufacturing facility there, where, in phase one, it will make gummy vitamins for both other clients and its own line, Wang says.

The company plans to hire 10 people at first, says Wang, and then up to 30 when the process is up and running, according to a statement. The company’s facility will be able to produce 130,000 pounds per month of gummy vitamins, though officials say it will be less at first. It also plans to eventually get into other wellness products, including generic pharmaceuticals. “We have to build up our sales and relationships with distributors,” Wang says.

While a key challenge going forward will be hiring and retaining top people, Wang, also says a big hurdle has been the process. He credits Pasco County for help with expedited permitting, site consultation, and workforce analysis, among other tasks. Wang projects the Fleda Pharmaceuticals Corp facility could be open by late 2019 or early 2020.

‘We have the available land, and we have the workforce.’ Bill Cronin, Pasco Economic Development Council

“There is a lot of work we have to do,” says Wang, who moved to the region from China about five years ago, seeking a warmer climate and different lifestyle. He worked for a medical device manufacturer in the region for a few years before launching Fleda with some investors, mostly stateside partners. “It’s a long process.”