Local News
December 26,
2012
Klausner’s coming to town
Company’s recent announcement of sawmill opening in N.C. has “no bearings” here
Live Oak — A formal announcement of a state-of-the-art sawmill locating in
Suwannee County that could potentially return an investment worth millions is
waiting on the governor’s office to pencil it in.
A state official working closely with the Klausner Lumber One LLC project said the sawmill is indeed coming here. Klausner is also building a sawmill in North Carolina which was announced last week.
“They’re still coming, but there were incentives they were going to lose if they didn’t make the announcement (in North Carolina),” said Diane Scholz, assistant coordinator of Economic Development for the state of Florida. “We’re working with the governor’s office and Enterprise Florida to work out a time so the governor can make the formal announcement (here).”
On Dec. 19, North Carolina’s Governor Beverly Perdue announced that Klausner Lumber Two LLC will build a sawmill in the Tar Heel state. Perdue made it official that the company would be constructing a sawmill in Halifax County, investing about $110 million and creating over 350 jobs within the next three years.
“Our highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce will serve Klausner’s high-tech advanced manufacturing needs well,” Perdue noted in a press release.
The Klausner project has been mostly secretive and remains such. It has been reported before that Klausner had been looking at sites in Suwannee County, North Carolina and South Carolina to locate a possible sawmill. It was never clear though if the company planned on building more than one sawmill in the USA. Some worried that when the announcement was made in North Carolina, Suwannee County was out of the running. However, Scholz said the announcement has “no bearings on Florida.”
Suwannee County will be putting a cap on a project that began as “Project Christmas” and has been in the works for several years when Gov. Scott makes the announcement.
The county has worked closely with the company’s attorney to draw up a contract that could be agreed upon by the county and Klausner. After several changes to the original contract, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-1 (Commissioner Phil Oxendine voting against) to shake hands on the deal. Since then, the county has been steadily working and anxiously awaiting the company’s next move.
According to Suwannee County Commission chairman Wesley Wainwright, the county has done everything the company has asked of them.
Land clearing is currently underway at the proposed site near the US 90 West and I-10 interchange. JB Coxwell Contracting has been clearing and grubbing the $1.5 million piece of property.
Suwannee County will have invested about $3.34 million at the conclusion of the project. The 10 year return on this investment is projected at about $879,866,981. The average salary for a Klausner employee here would be $30,000 annually plus $9,000 in benefits. The average worker’s salary in Suwannee County is $25,182 annually.
County officials have rolled out the red tape. Now, they’re waiting for Klausner to cut the ribbon
A state official working closely with the Klausner Lumber One LLC project said the sawmill is indeed coming here. Klausner is also building a sawmill in North Carolina which was announced last week.
“They’re still coming, but there were incentives they were going to lose if they didn’t make the announcement (in North Carolina),” said Diane Scholz, assistant coordinator of Economic Development for the state of Florida. “We’re working with the governor’s office and Enterprise Florida to work out a time so the governor can make the formal announcement (here).”
On Dec. 19, North Carolina’s Governor Beverly Perdue announced that Klausner Lumber Two LLC will build a sawmill in the Tar Heel state. Perdue made it official that the company would be constructing a sawmill in Halifax County, investing about $110 million and creating over 350 jobs within the next three years.
“Our highly skilled and knowledgeable workforce will serve Klausner’s high-tech advanced manufacturing needs well,” Perdue noted in a press release.
The Klausner project has been mostly secretive and remains such. It has been reported before that Klausner had been looking at sites in Suwannee County, North Carolina and South Carolina to locate a possible sawmill. It was never clear though if the company planned on building more than one sawmill in the USA. Some worried that when the announcement was made in North Carolina, Suwannee County was out of the running. However, Scholz said the announcement has “no bearings on Florida.”
Suwannee County will be putting a cap on a project that began as “Project Christmas” and has been in the works for several years when Gov. Scott makes the announcement.
The county has worked closely with the company’s attorney to draw up a contract that could be agreed upon by the county and Klausner. After several changes to the original contract, the Suwannee County Board of County Commissioners voted 3-1 (Commissioner Phil Oxendine voting against) to shake hands on the deal. Since then, the county has been steadily working and anxiously awaiting the company’s next move.
According to Suwannee County Commission chairman Wesley Wainwright, the county has done everything the company has asked of them.
Land clearing is currently underway at the proposed site near the US 90 West and I-10 interchange. JB Coxwell Contracting has been clearing and grubbing the $1.5 million piece of property.
Suwannee County will have invested about $3.34 million at the conclusion of the project. The 10 year return on this investment is projected at about $879,866,981. The average salary for a Klausner employee here would be $30,000 annually plus $9,000 in benefits. The average worker’s salary in Suwannee County is $25,182 annually.
County officials have rolled out the red tape. Now, they’re waiting for Klausner to cut the ribbon
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