Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Biz Journal article on Johnson & Johnson:
Johnson & Johnson deal could put Hillsborough ‘on the map’
Mar 4, 2015, 1:56pm EST
Print Editor- Tampa Bay Business Journal
Hillsborough County’s efforts to build a bioscience cluster and attract name-brand corporations got a major lift Wednesday morning, when the Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a $2.1 million local incentive package for Johnson & Johnson Services.
The company, a subsidiary of health care giant Johnson & Johnson Inc. (NYSE: JNJ), has proposed $23.5 million in capital investment for a project that would create 700 jobs, with an average wage of $75,000. The firm is considering several sites in Hillsborough County, Tampa and Temple Terrace, as well as other locations in other states.
Commissioner Ken Hagan said existing facilities, such as Draper Labs, Moffitt Cancer Center and USF Heart Health are a strong lure for Johnson & Johnson and similar firms.
“We have created the synergies and critical mass that’s providing the framework for significant strategic growth in our biosciences cluster,” Hagan said. “With Bristol-Myers Squibb coming here and Johnson & Johnson considering expansion, there’s absolutely no doubt that we’ve raised the awareness throughout the industry that Hillsborough County is a serious bioscience contender.”
Top companies go to top regions, said Commission Chair Sandy Murman.
“Our region is becoming quite the place to go to. The ‘open for business’ sign is out there,” Murman said. “[Johnson & Johnson] is one of the most highly respected brands in the United States and if we can land this expansion, this will definitely put us on the map like the Mercedes deal if we had gotten that.”
Murman was referring to a Wall Street Journal report that Tampa was one of the finalist cities for the relocation of Mercedes-Benz’s U.S. headquarters. Mercedes instead chose Atlanta.
The Johnson & Johnson proposal came on the heels of an earlier announcement that Citigroup (NYSE: C) is considering a $90 million capital investment to expand its Brandon campus and create an additional 1,173 new jobs, also averaging $75,000 in annual wages. Hillsborough commissioners last month approved a $3.4 million incentive package for Citigroup and smaller incentives for two other unidentified companies considering local expansions.
“This is another tool to keep our students here,” Murman said. “When we have these kind of jobs here, they’re going to stay here and live here and work here.”
The Tampa City Council is scheduled to consider Johnson & Johnson incentives tomorrow.
