BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The leader of Clay County’s Economic Development Corporation said a roofing factory four miles north of the Bradford-Clay County line is now going vertical.
Crawford Powell told the Clay County Board of County Commissioners that the general contractor for the project said that up to 200 workers have so far been involved with site preparation and construction.
“He cannot tell you if the workers live in Clay County,” Powell said of the builder, “but I guarantee you if they’re out there, they’re spending money in Clay because they’ve got to eat, they’ve got to drink, and they’ve got to come and go.”
Powell added that by the time the project is complete near the intersection of U.S. 301 and County Road 218, up to 1,000 workers and tradesmen will have contributed to the project.
Powell said the $229 million project would employ up to 125 full-timers with an average annual pay of $85,000.
Earlier, Powell had called the factory, owned by a Canadian construction materials firm, a multi-generational employer with an economic impact on the scale of what DuPont and Chemours have achieved in Clay and Bradford Counties.
Powell added that IKO’s impact on the economy may be greater than expected. He said the owners of the Niagara water bottling plant in Middleburg originally estimated 90 workers. He said that now, 260 people are employed there.
FAA worried about bats near airport
Powell also updated Clay commissioners on his organization’s partnership with the Keystone Heights Airport.
He said an initial environmental assessment funded by the economic development corporation has been completed, and his group will likely put in more money for another ecological study.
“We call it Bugs and Bunnies,” Powell said of the second phase study, which centers around endangered species. “The FAA is very concerned about bats around airports, and so part of the study has to be specifically for a bat that is known to be in open spaces around the airport.”
Powell said that over the past few years, his organization has contributed $200,000 to help the airport pursue development opportunities.
