Swiss manufacturer, Mettler Toledo, broke ground on a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing plant that will bring about 185 new jobs to Pasco County.
(Courtesy of Pasco Economic Development Council)
More than 300 people attended the ceremony on Jan. 14. Among those present were Viggo Nielsen, general manager of Mettler Toledo Safeline; Pasco County Commissioner Kathryn Starkey; Pasco County Planning and Development Administrator Richard Gehring; and, Bill Cronin, president of Pasco Economic Development Council.
Mettler Toledo is relocating its current facility from Town ‘N Country, in Hillsborough County, to Northpointe Village, off State Road 54 at the Suncoast Parkway.
The company is a global supplier of precision scales and services used in research, and the packaging and production of food and pharmaceuticals.
The new facility will be part of the product inspection division for Mettler Toledo Safeline.
Gehring said a substantial amount of work from Mettler Toledo and county staff members preceded the groundbreaking.
He updated the Pasco County Commission on the project at the commissioners’ Jan. 24 meeting in Dade City.
“It was a great performance to see the result and to see $25 million in (investment) is going into the ground,” he said. “It’s a major, major, major effort. When you walk out there, and see smiling faces and kids of families who will work there, it’s a very positive reinforcement to that effort.”
In addition to the new jobs, the company anticipates about 320 current employees will transfer to the new site. Besides closing the Town ‘N Country location, Metter Toledo also will close a plant in Ithaca, New York.
Annual average salaries for all jobs created at Mettler Toledo are pegged at more than $51,000.
Gehring said Pasco officials rolled out a welcome mat recently for some of Mettler Toledo’s employees who plan to relocate.
Pasco EDC staff members organized guided tours, with introductions to community leaders at area chambers of commerce and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, as well as school district employees.
The county previously rolled out its own financial welcome mat to the company itself.
Pasco County commissioners approved a $7.6 million incentive package in September that includes a payout of about $1.9 million for creating nearly 500 jobs.
Mettler Toledo also will get a property tax break of about $1.7 million for 10 years, if 80 percent of its jobs are retained annually.
Pasco County will contribute about $3.5 million to build an extension of Northpointe Village Drive, through its Penny for Pasco program.
A reimbursement of about $1.2 million will be sought from state road funds. If that’s approved, the county’s incentive package then would be reduced to about $6.4 million.
Published February 1, 2017
