Laura Young
ECB Publishing, Inc.
The Monticello-Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce meeting on Feb. 1 was packed to overflowing with members and guests eager to hear County Commissioner Chris Tuten speak on behalf of Jefferson County Economic Development (JCED).
County Commissioner Chris Tuten came to the podium to bring the group up to date on activities underway by JCED, which he chairs. He introduced those who serve with the JCED: Chamber Member Traynor Richardson, City Manager Seth Lawless, County Coordinator Parrish Barwick, County Planner Shannon Metty, School Board Member Shirley Washington, residents Kim Watson and Phil Landrau as well as Property Appraiser Angela Gray as a supporting staff member.
“The reason we wanted to work with the school board and have the city involved with this economic development,” said Tuten, “was we thought it was important for all entities of Jefferson County, in order to see it grow. We want to work closely with the school board so that we can bring business that can work along with CTE programs and have programs that are for these kids who are not able or do not want to go to college can get certified and have work experience and when they graduate have jobs ready for them. That will completely change the face of Jefferson County if we can do that. Your kids and grandkids will not have to move out of Jefferson County to find jobs. If they want to stay, they can stay.”
Tuten recognized the businesses currently in the industrial park, listed in the order that they came:
Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and Emergency Management
XPO Logistics
Florida Safe Rider
Alpha Foundations
Big Power LLC
Morris Petroleum
Granny Kat's
Simply Cremations
Pop's Sanitation
Therma Safe
Then Tuten began his update on the latest prospect: “We have one lot left at the Industrial Park, and we are currently working very hard with a company called NaturalShrimp/Hydrenesis to bring them to this county. They are really wanting to work with the local school system to start the first CTE program in Jefferson County.”
Tuten showed a video from Natural Shrimp Inc. that outlined how the company meets the rising demand for fresh shrimp while using the latest, environmentally friendly technology, and how this kind of operation could benefit Jefferson County.
In the video, the company said it is a Florida-based, veteran-run company known for operating the largest indoor, circulating shrimp growing systems available.
“Compared to shrimp that are wild caught or farmed in open ponds,” the video narrator said, “Natural Shrimp are bigger, better and tastier. And our technology can be rolled out in any standard industrial facility, anywhere in the world.”
Putting their next facility in North Florida, the video continued, would bring new jobs, new employee training and new eco-friendly commerce for an entire community. The panhandle, as the geographic center of the southeast, would position the company well to deliver fresh, never frozen, premium shrimp to restaurants, food service providers and retail outlets in a 500-mile radius, from Miami to Washington D.C, and from Atlanta west to Memphis and south to New Orleans, serving 40 million Americans from its North Florida facility alone. Natural Shrimp, Inc., would bring 31 full-time main positions and 16 operational (supervisory) staff positions, plus 4800 hours of work for local contractors like electricians and plumbers.
Tuten explained that JCED had offered the company the same incentives offered to other companies interested in coming to Jefferson County, but that it had also offered the 10-acre lot behind Alpha Foundations.
Gray added that another incentive is offering the services of our grant writers.
“Because of the CTE tie-in and the clean water,” said Gray, “they may be able to secure grants that most businesses are not able to.”
Several important points came out during the subsequent Q&A session:
* None of the water used is dumped. It is all filtered and reused.
* The company wants to be up and running by this fall, but there's a lot to do between now and then.
* Jefferson County competed with Madison County for this economic development, but the CTE program, the location between 90 and I-10, plus the offer of the county's grant writer has tipped them toward choosing Jefferson County.
* The CTE program could offer students experience and certification in aquaculture, water quality and engineering.
* The county already has a letter of intent signed by the company, and the binder agreement was to go before the County Commission for approval on Thursday, Feb. 3.
Other business at the Chamber meeting included the introduction of two new Chamber members by Executive Director Katrina Richardson: Josh Brown of Waypoint Properties, who announced that his company had just opened a branch in Monticello, and Austin Oscar, who operates the Marathon gas station down at the I-10/U.S. 19 interchange.
A lunch of tasty sandwiches, salads and cookies was provided by Tupelo's Bakery & Cafe.
You must be logged in to post a comment.