A.G. Gancarski
The real impact of Chinese imports on American factories has been discussed to death. But if you look closely, you can find a counter-narrative emerging.
One example of that was demonstrated in Northwest Jacksonville Thursday afternoon, where Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and other local dignitaries came together for the grand opening of a 121,000 square foot stainless steel Hans-Mill garbage can factory.
A vital business in an area of town that needs them; an initiative made possible by Wal-Mart, which has committed to buy $250M of American products over the next ten years.
Garbage cans from Jacksonville — and not China — will be part of that narrative. And at least 50 new jobs will be created. All of that with local incentives. And five of those jobs are to be for Northwest Jacksonville residents.
James Han, the CEO of the manufacturer Hans-Mill, said that Jacksonville was “the right location … the total package” for the manufacturing of these cans.
His company makes 750 items worldwide, and hopes to bring more production stateside, to decrease the company’s “carbon footprint” and take advantage of local sourcing.
This plays into Wal-Mart’s strategy, which prioritizes local sourcing — and has a time element, said Cindi Marsiglio, VP of U.S. Manufacturing.
“Go fast, go big,” was her summation of Wal-Mart’s rapid-fire ramp-up of domestic production.
Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, meanwhile, said “Jacksonville continues to roll” and “we’re going to continue to roll.”
“This today is big,” Curry said. “We’ve had a number of local expansions … companies move into Jacksonville for the first time.”
“This has been in process for a period of time. This is a big deal,” Curry said.
Despite uncertainty regarding the future of economic incentives on the state level, JAXUSA — an arm of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce — has brought in 2,000 jobs this year to date.
While Curry noted the importance of state dollars, he said the city is going to fight for jobs regardless.
“Clearly, they’re important. But if it doesn’t go the way we’d like it to go … Jacksonville’s not going to lay down and cry and moan. We’re going to find a way to have a competitive advantage and compete for jobs,” Curry added.
“There’s always incentives available,” Curry said about the city, if they conform with the “scorecard” model Jacksonville uses to determine ROI.
“We can figure out how to get there,” Curry added, “often.”
Of course, it’s not just incentives that make the sale, said Tim Cost, President of the JAXUSA partnership.
Collaboration between political leaders and the “incredibly cooperative” business community help with making the sale to businesses relocating, Cost added.
