Exponen�al growth ready to land in Glades County soon GLADES

Glades County is poised for exponen�al growth in the next 5-10 years.

The county is inves�ng in infrastructure development in prepara�on for that expected growth. County officials and business leaders are working on ge�ng high speed broadband to the area, extending city sewer lines into less populated areas and a�rac�ng manufacturers to America’s Gateway Logis�cs Center, a 600+ acre mixed use industrial site on US 27.

Tradi�onally, manufacturing in Glades County has been centered on companies which have their roots in the predominantly agriculture-based economy. The state’s largest fer�lizer company, Wedgworth’s Inc., with headquarters in Belle Glade, produces 150,000 tons of fer�lizer yearly at the Moore Haven plant. Central to Wedgworth’s decision to relocate their produc�on facility’s opera�ons to Glades County was the county’s centrality to their exis�ng customer base, the availability of a site with four-lane highway frontage, potable water and rail.

Other manufacturers have followed suit.

Sco�s Miracle Gro acquired Lykes 7L Brands Mulch plant and its trade-marked eucalyptus mulch, doubling their workforce and expanding to include new warehousing for their Miracle Gro line of po�ng products. Their Palmdale site serves much of southern Florida south of Orlando.

In 2016, Maxant Bu�ons relocated their aluminum bu�on manufacturing opera�ons to Moore Haven and started produc�on in January 2017. Maxant acquired Mike’s Aluminum Products in 2018 and is now Maxant Metals.

In 2014, Quikcrete acquired the justcompleted Greencore mortar mixing and bagging plant in Ortona, growing their workforce from 10 to 22 employ-

County

ees in just over a year.

Other manufacturers in Glades County include Vulcan Materials, which produces sand for Florida golf courses as well as road and bridge projects; Oldcastle Greenleaf, a leading producer of mulch; and Cemex, which produces the redimix for the Port of Miami Tunnel at the Glades County plant. Access to the raw materials from which they manufacture their products and centrality to their customers are making Glades County a hub of manufacturing and distribu�on in South Florida.

Governor Ron DeSan�s granted the County $5.8 million in October 2021 for iTECH Glades, which opened for classes in January 2022. iTECH is operated by the Collier County School District and this partnership has allowed Glades County to boast a technical college within its boundaries.

With no sales tax on manufacturing equipment and no personal income tax on the state level, combined with affordable real estate, an aggressive local op�on tax abatement and 12% overall opera�ng cost savings compared to urban markets, more companies are discovering that Glades County is the land for opportunity for their manufacturing and logis�cs opera�ons to expand or relocate.

Rosemary Fllori received her B.A. in political science from the University of Florida and was hired as the Executive Director of the Glades County Economic Development Council in September 2021. Contact her at rfllori@gladescountyedc.com or call (863) 946-0300.