The Indian River County Commission today unanimously approved drafting a local jobs grant that will pay Boston Barricade Company up to $126,000 for creating 28 new jobs in the county.
The company makes temporary, reusable construction barriers used in malls, airports and other locations during remodeling. Its corporate headquarters is in Indian River County and it plans to move a regional distribution center and manufacturing operations here as well.
County staff said no legal or financial problems were discovered in a due-diligence investigation of the company and recommended approval of the grant, which was given a thumbs-up by the Economic Development Council on Nov. 15.
“These jobs pay an average of $38,000,” said Helene Caseltine, economic development director of the Indian River Chamber of Commerce. “That will mean more than $1 million in new payroll in the county.”
Company president Robert Putnam said he was excited to be consolidating operations in the place he lives.
According to Putnam, Boston Barricades is the only nationwide company providing reusable construction containment products. He said each time his company’s barricades are deployed, it prevents approximately 1.5 tons of debris from entering landfills in the form of steel studs and drywall used to build temporary walls that are later torn down and hauled away.
As with other county jobs grants, no grant money will be paid until jobs have been in existence for a year. After that, money will be disbursed in installments over a four-year period as long as the jobs remain in place, with the company receiving $25,333 in 2013; $42,000 in 2014; $42,000 in 2015; and$16,666 in 2016.
The money will come from the county’s general fund contingency reserve.
The unemployment rate in Indian River County in October was 12.7 percent. The jobs grants program is part of the county’s effort to stimulate economic growth by attracting new businesses to the area and encouraging expansion of existing businesses to create employment opportunities and increase tax revenues.
Jobs grants are directed at targeted industries, including manufacturing.
