While Alachua County is not a manufacturing mecca, since only 3.5 percent of the work force is employed in this industry, niche factories — from the Maddox Foundry in Archer, founded in 1905, to human bone and tissue implant specialist RTI Surgical — are an important part of the local economy.
A new partnership between the Council for Economic Outreach (CEO) and the Advanced Manufacturing Association of North Central Florida (AMANCF) is devoted to changing that by attracting new manufacturers and making it easier for existing ones to conduct business and grow.
Through our business retention and expansion efforts we are working to identify key challenges to growing our regional manufacturing base and address those issues to make the region more attractive to companies both inside and outside our region.
Our assets include a skilled workforce ranging from GED to Ph.D. to address the many facets manufacturing undertakes today. In addition we have strong real estate options, good transportation options and one of the best regions in Florida in regards to quality of life. We truly have the opportunity here to help manufacturers be successful.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
The team effort comes at a time of mixed news in manufacturing.
The county has lost some manufacturing jobs in recent years. The latest happened in July 2013, when Argon Medical Devices moved production from its newly acquired Gainesville medical needles manufacturing facility to a facility in Athens, Texas. More than100 jobs were eliminated in the process.
However, some area manufacturers are expanding, adding jobs and stimulating the economy.
One of the largest combined plants and research centers in the county’s history is under construction. Nanotherapeutics began work in late October on a $150 million, 145,000-square-foot building that will add as many as 150 new employees with high average pay.
The plant is being built through a U.S. Army contract that enlists the company in making and developing treatments for bioterrorism and radiological threats. The initial contract will be for $136 million, with possible extensions that could bring the total contract to $359 million over 10 years.
RTI is in the final stages of building a $14 million, 41,165-square-foot building in Progress Corporate Park in Alachua. The building will include space for production of a new implant that contains the essential elements needed to generate and maintain new bone.
Exactech, a Gainesville company that makes orthopedic implants used around the world, is planning an expansion that will consolidate its office space, and it is considering additional manufacturing space in the next several years. The company is now constructing a sister building to its 2000 square foot manufacturing building that opened in 2011. It will provide business support services for Exactech’s entire global operation.
FINDING SKILLED WORKERS
Finding good workers is a major challenge for many manufacturers, said AMANCF President Brian Soucek. That’s the case at SiVance LLC, a subsidiary of Milliken and Company and a Gainesville-based chemical company, where Soucek is the human resources manager.
About half of the SiVance’s 145 jobs locally are in production work that requires only a high school education. These jobs pay between $16 and $26 per hour, plus considerable overtime pay.
“It can be a struggle to find people who are trainable and capable of meeting our high quality standards,” Soucek said.
“We need people who are willing to work outside, following a recipe, documenting their work, taking samples and troubleshooting on 24/7 shifts, but our educational system isn’t preparing enough of the people we need.”
The Chamber is fortunate to partner with Florida Works and local executives are actually housed inside the Chamber itself. In addition to our educational and workforce partners these are the type of problems we can solve.
Meanwhile, SiVance uses a state program administered by FloridaWorks that tests for the ability to read, do math and find information to screen job applicants. “There’s a big gap between what we need and many applicants’ abilities in basic skills,” Soucek said.
A little known Micapony sawmill produces stunning wood for flooring and cabinets from logs that have been submerged in rivers more than a century.
Goodwin Heart Pine Company, which has been in business for 36 years, employs 18 people.
George Goodwin started working with submerged logs from local rivers because of his love of working, said his wife, Carol. At first, George used other area sawmills. “Banks aren’t going to loan money to pull logs out of rivers,” Carol said.
Over time, the company built its own sawmill with heavy-duty equipment needed to cut through the tough old trees.
The company’s logs come primarily from Florida rivers. They are left over from widespread clear-cutting of much of the Florida landscape, which occurred between the end of the Civil War and the early 20th Century. Most of the wood is sturdy heart pine and cypress.
“The loggers floated the logs along the rivers, but an estimated 15 percent were lost, particularly larger logs that sank,” Carol said. “The wood became saturated with water, which prevented it from deteriorating.”
The company also uses wood from sustainably harvested forests and from storm damage. For example, following hurricanes, they receive mahogany from Costa Rica.
Davenport visited the sawmill as part of her support of local businesses.
The Goodwins presented Davenport, who recently moved to Gainesville from a similar job in Austin, with a gift. It was a slice from the heart pine used for flooring in the Texas Governor’s Mansion.
“It also contained one word at the end, ‘Friendship,’” said Davenport. “For a newly relocated Texan this was a special gift. I hope everyone has the opportunity to see the quality and beauty of Goodwin’s products.”
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Depot Building, Downtown Gainesville, restored using Goodwin Heart Pine Company products.
The Maddox Foundry in Archer, present-day.
The Maddox Foundry in Archer in the early 1900s.