Air Products to Create 250 Jobs at New Port Manatee Plant

The governors office announced that Air Products, an Allentown, Pa., company, is expanding to Manatee County, building a 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will employ 250.

The international gases and chemicals supply company is expanding its liquefied natural gas heat exchanger manufacturing footprint to be close to Port Manatee, which will handle the global shipping for the business.

Air Products investment in Florida demonstrates our success in recruiting job-producing companies that strengthen our economy as well as our business climate, Gov. Rick Scott stated in a release. This expansion is welcome news for Manatee County and our state as a whole.

The new facility is expected to be completed in late 2013, with the jobs coming on line within four years.

Air Products will receive $1 million in Quick Action Closing Fund incentives and $750,000 from a Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund incentive, the refund incentives from the state are not paid until the jobs have been created. The company could face sanctions for failing to meet any contractual performance measurements.

The number of potential LNG projects in the pipeline is at an all-time high due to the strong demand for cleaner fuels in growing economies worldwide.Additionally, several of the projects on the horizon will require the largest heat exchangers we have ever built and the new location does not face the sameshipping constraints of our current location, Jim Solomon, director of LNG at Air Products, stated in the release.

We believe the site we have selected in Florida offers exactly what we need. The new facility will be built at a deepwater port location with the flexibility to produce our LNG offerings without any physical shipping restrictions.