Highlights of Economic and Business Growth in the Tampa Bay Region

TAMPA BAY, Fla., Jan. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — News briefs concerning economic and business growth in the Tampa Bay region from the Tampa Bay Partnership:

Oshkosh Move To Bring 200 Jobs To Tampa Bay Region

Oshkosh Corporation, a Fortune 350 company, is moving its ambulance business to Manatee County and its specialty vehicles business to Pinellas County.  Manatee Economic Development Council and Pinellas County Economic Developmentannounced that the move, which could add up to 200 jobs in 2011 in Bradenton and Clearwater, was made possible throughFlorida economic development assistance.  After an extensive review, the Fire and Emergency segment of Oshkosh Corporation has decided to relocate two of its businesses — Medtec Ambulances and Oshkosh Specialty Vehicles (OSV) — and consolidate them with two other existing business units in Florida. Medtec Ambulance will be relocated and consolidated with Pierce Manufacturing in Bradenton, while OSV will be relocated and merged with Frontline Communications in Clearwater.  The existing Fire & Emergency operations in Florida currently employ approximately 450. The planned relocations qualify Oshkosh for up to $1.44 million in economic development incentives. (Contact: Eric Basinger, 941-748-4842 x128,info@ManateeEDC.com; Stacey Swank, 727-464-7425, sswank@pinellascounty.org)

Tampa Bay Flight Simulator Company Gets Air Force Contract

CAE USA has been awarded a U.S. Air Force KC-135 aircrew contract with options worth more than $200 million over 10 years.  The contract will enable CAE USA to add about 150 employees.  The nine-month base contract is worth about $20 million.  It provides nine, one-year options for training services at 13 bases with KC-135 training elements, including MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.  CAE USA will train more than 3,500 pilots, co-pilots and refueling boom operators each year.  (Contact: Chris Stellwag, 813-887-1242, chris.stellwag@caemilusa.com)

Dais Analytic Receives Economic Incentive to Develop NanoAir Products

Dais Analytic Corporation has been approved a $254,000 grant to aid the company in developing a new generation of energy efficient, environmentally friendly heating, cooling, and refrigeration products called “NanoAir.”  Proceeds from this grant will enable the company to bring on additional employees and contract for engineering services to decrease the time to initial commercial sales of this validated, disruptive heating/cooling and refrigeration process made possible by Dais’s nanotechnology plastics. With the unanimous approval from Pasco County Board of County Commissioners, the county validates Dais’s efforts and recognizes the continued economic development efforts and continued economic development potential in the targeted HVAC/Energy Efficiency market. In addition, the county recognized the coveted, highly competitiveAdvanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) grant Dais received earlier this year from the Department of Energy. (Contact: Denise Sanderson, 727-375-8484, denise.sanderson@daisanalytic.com)

Esurance Adding Tampa Bay Jobs

Auto insurer Esurance is looking to hire 10 people in Tampa.  The San Francisco-company has been expanding in the Tampa Bay area lately to gear up for this winter when many insurance customers are expected to renew policies or seek new ones.  Esurance is looking to add another 10 workers for full-time jobs including sales agent, sales branch manager, total loss representative, salvage claims assistant and adjuster.  Esurance has 163 people at its Tampa office and 1,660 nationwide. (Contact: Danny Miller, 415-875-4579, dmiller2@esurance.com)

It Works Global to Relocate Corporate Headquarters to Manatee County, Plans 90 Jobs

It Works Global Inc. will relocate its corporate headquarters from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Manatee County in January 2011 – a move that will add 90 jobs over the next three years. The company qualified for state and local performance-based incentives totaling $799,785 and was assisted by the Manatee Economic Development Council. The company also offers an extensive array of premium nutritional supplements and a line of luxury skincare products. Over the next three years, the company plans to develop a call center and shipping operations in Manatee County. The company’s executive team and some of its existing 45-member staff will make the move to Bradenton, and additional employees will be recruited in the areas of accounting and finance, customer service, creative functions, marketing, and project management. (Contact: Mark Pentecost, 800-537-2395,info@itworks.net)

“Green” Projects Planned for Polk County

Two “green” business projects are taking shape in Polk County.  Virginia-based renewable energy firm EnergyOne has plans for an ethanol plant in Lake Wales scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2011. The $25 million project is slated for a 33-acre site and will have a capacity to make up to 4 million gallons of corn-based ethanol per year, in addition to producing animal feed and food-grade liquid carbon dioxide. The Energy One project will create and estimated 40 jobs. Meanwhile, a long-discussed fertilizer plant project from Clearwater-based Unity Environtech could break ground in early 2011. The facility, which will produce sterilized commercial fertilizer from municipal sludge, is planned for a 364-acre property south of Bartow. (Contact:Tom Patton, 863-551-4718, tom@cfdc.org)