Faced with the
challenges of a growing business, Peter Truslow, president of
Edgewater Power Boats spent the past two years exploring what he
needed to do to expand his company’s production needs. Should he
remain in his existing facilities that he was quickly outgrowing or
should he begin the process of finding another location nearby or
outside of Volusia County or even outside of Florida?
Truslow’s company is part of a growing number of Florida
manufacturers that are faced with this type of decision when the
need for more production space and in many cases more employees are
required.
With limited options for larger existing production space,
increasing property taxes and increasing insurance, a growing number
of Florida companies are exploring relocation options that take them
beyond their existing communities and many times to other state’s
that have placed attractive financial incentives on the table to
lure Florida companies to greener pastures.
“Edgewater Power Boats joins a growing list of local companies such
as Ocean Design, Piedmont Plastics, General Dynamics, Pharmex,
Intellitec, Raydon Corporation and others during the past few years
that have expressed a need to grow and that have had to face the
decision of where that growth or expansion would take place,” said
Rick Michael, Volusia County Economic Development director.
Volusia County’s economic development officials have spent thousands
of hours since 2002 helping to resolve business relocation concerns
and assisting area companies with their expansion needs.
“While local
government has been successful in playing a significant role in
retaining companies such as Ocean Design and Piedmont Plastics,
similar efforts to salvage General Dynamics were unsuccessful as the
company relocated two of three local divisions to corporate
facilities in Virginia and North Carolina, said Michael. The third
division remained here due to the quick response of Volusia County
and the City of DeLand in finding a buyer for the Intellitec
division and committing resources to help
the new ownership expand the division’s production locally.”
Edgewater Power Boats made the decision to remain in Edgewater
following months of reviewing many real estate options that took the
company beyond the borders of Florida. The company was hosted by
state officials in North and South Carolina where state and local
grants were offered to assist the company in acquiring land,
buildings and to support what would be needed for worker training.
“North Carolina offered grants in excess of $2.5 million to help our
company buy an industrial site with an existing production facility
sitting there waiting for us to move in and more than $600,000 in
worker training incentives,” said Truslow. “It was an offer that was
hard to turn down.”
Locally, Truslow explored options with the county’s economic
development officials that included acquisition of the company’s
existing leased facilities, a new 10-acre site at the Tomoka Farms
Industrial Park near Daytona Beach and similar size location within
the Parktowne Industrial Center in Edgewater.
“Volusia County stayed with us throughout the entire process,
helping us to better understand the real estate options, offering to
work with us in issuing industrial revenue bonds and by coordinating
local and state resources that were designed to help me make the
best decision we could for the company,” said Truslow. “In the end,
we made what we believe is the best decision and that is to remain
in Volusia County and in our community of Edgewater with the
employees that have made our company what it is today.”
The company is working with the Volusia County Industrial
Development Authority in processing up to $5 million in industrial
revenue bonds that will be used to acquire an existing production
facility in Edgewater and to expand that facility to meet the growth
needs of the company.
“We were excited by the decision made by Edgewater Power Boats to
remain in Volusia County and honored the county was able to play a
role in supporting that decision that has impacted the future
long-term employment of nearly 100 area workers and their families,
said County Council member Jack Hayman.
