Hillsborough, tops in state for drug-addicted babies, will file suit against opioid makers

Dennis Joyce Assistant metro editor

Published: August 10, 2018

Updated: August 10, 2018 at 07:48 AM

TAMPA — Medical, law enforcement, and justice system leaders will hold a news conference Tuesday to announce that Hillsborough County is filing a lawsuit against drug companies blamed for contributing to the opioid addiction crisis.

The lawsuit says drug manufacturers helped cause the opioid addiction crisis by aggressively marketing opioid drugs, overplaying their benefits in treating chronic pain and downplaying their dangers, according to a news release Friday from the county.

In 2016, Hillsborough County had more babies born addicted to drugs than any other county in Florida, according to the release.

Nationwide, local governments had filed some 200 civil cases in the federal courts as of late last year, and dozens of other suits were working their way through state courts. Attorneys general from nearly every state had joined together to look into legal options.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in May that she had filed “the most comprehensive lawsuit in the country” against the largest manufacturers and distributors of opioids, blaming them for creating an opioid crisis that has killed more than 10,000 Floridians. The suit was filed in Pasco County.

Among those scheduled to attend the Tuesday news conference in Tampa are Board of County Commissioners Chairwoman Sandra Murman; attorney Mike Moore, who led the legal fight against tobacco companies and who is now heading up lawsuits against opioid manufacturers; Sheriff Chad Chronister; and State Attorney Andrew Warren.

Hillsborough County commissioners on board for return of ferry service

Christopher O’Donnell

Published: June 20, 2018

Updated: June 20, 2018 at 04:45 PM

TAMPA – St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman cleared another hurdle in his bid to bring back a seasonal ferry service between his city and Tampa when Hillsborough County commissioners agreed to back the project.

Kriseman is asking the  City of Tampa and Pinellas and Hillsborough counties to join St. Petersburg in paying $150,000 each to subsidize the service, which would run between November and April.

He made his pitch to Hillsborough County commissioners Wednesday saying that the pilot program, which ran in 2016 and sold over 37,000 tickets, proves there is a demand for the service.

But he acknowledged that the infrequent one-boat service is not going to get many commuters out of their cars.

A survey of riders showed that for  two-thirds of passengers took the trip  for recreation.

For that reason, if the service returns it will not include early morning trips from St. Petersburg that were targeted at commuters.

Of those who did ride, about 75 percent dined out at their destination and 30 percent visited a museum.

That and other spending passenger amounted to an economic impact of $1.6 million, Kriseman said.

“That’s money spent in our two communities that might not have otherwise been spent,” he said.

But its unclear how much of that spending would have taken place anyway. Spending on events or attractions like a ferry ride is often in place of other spending such as going to the cinema, economists say.

The seasonal service would help the county as it looks to start a ferry service between south Hillsborough and MacDill Air Force Base, Kriseman said.

The county has yet to finalize its 2019 budget but Commission Chairwoman Sandy Murman said she has already instructed County Administrator Mike Merrill to earmark its share of the cost of the ferry. Commissioners voted unanimously in support of that move.

“It was a huge success and I think we get a big return on it,” she said.

Kriseman’s biggest obstacle may be convincing Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, who earlier this month told the Tampa Bay Times that the ferry should be viable without subsidies. Tampa is also dealing with a $5 million anticipated shortfall as it prepares its 2019 budget.

MacDill Air Force Base ferry one step closer to fruition

By Janelle Irwin  – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal

Jun 20, 2018, 2:41pm

The Hillsborough County Commission approved Wednesday the next step in creating ferry service between south county and MacDill Air Force Base. The move launches the next phase of the ferry that will create a timeline for completion, a budget schedule and identify at least two possible sites for a ferry terminal somewhere in south county.

The service would provide alternative transportation for the 18,000 civilian and non-civilian employees at the base.

“The benefits are certainly great for the community and the military down there because they don’t really have any form of alternative transportation other than their car,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman. “For them, mostly enlisted men live in south county because it’s affordable and to get on the [Lee Roy Selmon] Expressway is sometimes not economically available.”

Murman said fares on the ferry would be covered by the federal government.

Tampa attorney Ed Turanchik, who represents the proposed ferry operator, HMS Ferries, also said the service would save MacDill money on its annual operating budget by reducing the amount of security necessary to screen thousands of cars flowing onto base each day at four different entrances. Instead, passengers would enter the base at one dock where screening would be easier without having to ensure vehicles were safe for entry.

“MacDill has incredible queues outside the gates,” Turanchik said. “Cars and buses continue to be a security threat. Security officials believe the ferry reduces the lines through the gates. It helps them immensely with their operational security needs.”

There are still several questions that need to be answered before service can launch. Approval for an on-base dock would require federal approval from the Pentagon. MacDill leadership has tentatively offered its support, but official clearance hasn’t been requested.

The site for an off-base dock in south county also has to be identified and must be both financially and environmentally viable. Two sites so far have been floated including the Fred and Idah Schultz Preserve just north of Apollo Beach and the Williams Park boat ramp near Gibsonton. Both sites present environmental challenges including possibly damaging sea grass or injuring manatees, which are prevalent in the area.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacey White said he would not support the Schultz site due to environmental concerns and urged planners to either find a financial path toward securing the Williams Park site or find an alternative.

Wednesday’s vote allocates $170,000 to enter into several studies including dock locations.

Hillsborough is on board for its share of Cross Bay Ferry funding

By Janelle Irwin  – Reporter, Tampa Bay Business Journal

Jun 20, 2018, 2:27pm

Hillsborough County is all in for its share of the Cross Bay Ferry 2.0. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to support a $150,000 expenditure for a second round of ferry service beginning this November.

The service is meant to be an alternative transit solution for riders between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa. While it would only run seasonally, its success marks a key opportunity to attract state and federal dollars for other more permanent solutions.

“If they’re going to make that kind of investment, they want to see that it works,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman said during a presentation at the Hillsborough County Commission meeting.

Kriseman touted statistics from the original service in late 2016 through April 2017 and asked the board for its support. To fund the service, four governments — Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, St. Pete and Tampa — would each need to contribute $150,000. The Florida Department of Transportation is committing $43,000 over three years.

Commissioner Sandra Murman said she already asked Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill to include $150,000 in the fiscal year 2019 budget, which takes effect in October. That budget still has to be approved.

“This is about really offering something to our citizens that’s not just in a car or an Uber,” Murman said. “It’s making use of our water. We don’t use our waterways.”

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Murman has been backing another permanent ferry service connecting south Hillsborough County to MacDill Air Force Base. In an unrelated vote, the board also approved the next portion of that project, which will pave the way for budgeting and a timeline for completion. Kriseman wants to leverage the eventual service on nights and weekends for recreational transportation similar to what the Cross Bay Ferry offers.

“While that’s happening we think this gives us an opportunity — once your system is up and running we’ll already have a ridership that’s used to riding it … and will take advantage of it,” Kriseman said.

During its initial pilot, the Cross Bay Ferry exceeded ridership expectations with more than 40,000 rides and surpassed revenue expectations, leading each of the four partner governments to receive about $40,000 back on their $350,000 investments. Kriseman said he expects some of the $150,000 ask this time around to also be refunded once the seasonal service concludes.

Kriseman said a revenue study found the ferry led to $1.6 million in expenditures in Tampa and St. Pete, which is $300,000 more than the governments would contribute for its return.

Kriseman also said the ferry had a higher fare box ratio than bus service in Tampa Bay. Fares from the ferry represented 41 percent of its operating cost while bus tickets and other transit fares for the Pinellas and Hillsborough transit agencies only account for 28 percent of their budgets.

St. Pete City Council has agreed to fund its portion of the ferry cost. Pinellas County has not heard yet from Kriseman. Tampa City Council has yet to weigh in, though Mayor Bob Buckhorn has expressed reservations about spending money on the service when the city is facing 3 percent cuts to most of its departments to bridge a $13 million budget shortfall this year.

PACE financing practices come under fire from Hillsborough commission after 8 On Your Side report

By:

• Mark Douglas

Posted: Jun 20, 2018 04:28 PM EDT

Updated: Jun 20, 2018 06:32 PM EDT

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The managers of Ygrene Energy Fund, a company that finances home improvement projects in Hillsborough County, will be fired if they don’t put consumer safeguards in place, county commissioners warned Wednesday.

“I just hope it doesn’t happen again,” said Hillsborough Commission Chair Sandra Murman. “Because if it does, we’re going to have to figure out a way to end this relationship.”

Ygrene is one of several financial institutions that provide loans through Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, and operate with an approved list of contractors.

Wednesday, Ygrene’s Director of Government Relations told commissioners her company has fired the contractor we’ve been investigating since April for deceptive sales practices.

“The only update I can share with you is we have terminated this contractor in our program,” said Kate Wesner.

PACE enables homeowners with poor credit to obtain home improvement loans and pay through a special assessment on their property tax bill, but critics say consumers end up with bulging tax bills that they can’t afford, which put them in danger of losing their homes.

PACE business practices have come under intense scrutiny since our 8 On Your Side investigation revealed that two men who went to prison for organized fraud were working for one of the contractors that provide home improvements under the Ygrene/PACE banner.

The investigation, which was verified by Hillsborough Consumer Services, also revealed that Summitwood Works LLC, owned by Neal Scoppettuolo was misleading consumers about defective roofs and misrepresenting the company as a government entity.

The swindlers, Carlton Dunko and Frank Pureber, were hired to work on Scoppettuolo’s sales and marketing team. Dunko even lives with Scoppettuolo.

Ygrene first learned of Scoppettuolo’s association with the two con artists a year ago but failed to act until months after we started reporting on his misleading business practices in Pasco, Hillsborough and Collier counties.

At Wednesday’s commission meeting, Wesner told commissioners Ygrene terminated Scoppettuolo as an approved contractor as soon as the company found out he was sending out false advertising and taking advantage of consumers.

But our investigation discovered Ygrene first learned of Scoppettuolo’s business relationship with convicted swindlers a year ago, and learned he was sending out deceptive advertising in April in Pasco County.

Ygrene spokesman Jaquin McPeek previously told 8 On Your Side Scoppettuolo had been “suspended” but not fired. On Wednesday, McPeek said Ygrene “terminated” Scoppettuolo “within the past few days.”

McPeek says Ygrene has been operating for five years and has a good track record of handling 20,000 PACE loans.

Hillsborough Commissioner Les Miller believes Scoppettuolo and his associates deserve more than termination for taking advantage of unsuspecting elderly and disabled customers under the auspices of the government-sanctioned PACE financing program.

“We’re not going to run them out of Hillsborough County, we’re gonna lock ’em up for the things that they do. I mean to pray on the elderly and disabled and those that are misfortunate.”

The Hillsborough County Commission told Ygrene to return July 18 to explain the company’s policies that safeguard and protect consumers from unscrupulous business practices.

Meanwhile, Hillsborough consumer protection investigators have turned over complaints against Scoppettuolo and Summitwood to the Hillsborough State Attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution.

Hillsborough wants Tampa to take over some roads; Buckhorn says no

By Christopher O’Donnell, Times Staff Writer

Published: June 8, 2018

Updated: June 8, 2018 at 05:03 PM

TAMPA — Rejected by the city of Tampa, road safety advocates this week turned to Hillsborough County commissioners in their campaign for more traffic calming measures and bike lanes on Bay to Bay Boulevard.

But while the county owns the road, it has virtually no say over it — nor over another 60 miles of county-owned roads that lie within the city.

That has commissioners suggesting it may be time to transfer them to the city.

“The bigger problem is we’re going to get caught in the middle on every county road project in the city that needs major changes to it like pedestrian crosswalks and safe streets,” said Commission Chairwoman Sandy Murman. “Unfortunately, our hands are tied on this and legally tied on what we can do.”

But the idea may be dead on arrival: Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the city has no interest in taking ownership of county roads.

“They’ve been trying to sell us that broken-down car for a year,” Buckhorn said. “They can look at it all they want. Why would the city take over roads that are in disrepair?”

The brewing dispute could make it tougher for the county and city to reach a new maintenance agreement when their current deal expires at the end of September.

The county came to own roads within the city when they were transferred from state ownership decades ago. They include major thoroughfares like West Shore Boulevard, Columbus Drive and a section of Waters Avenue.

Under the current deal, the county pays for major maintenance like resurfacing, which for future projects is projected to cost $125,000 per lane mile.

The city’s responsibility is to mow grass, fix sidewalks and potholes, and operate and enforce traffic signals. But the city also chips in when it wants additional safety features like pedestrian crosswalks added to maintenance projects.

Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill acknowledged that the county would have to bring its roads up to a certain standard before they could be transferred to the city.

But Buckhorn said even then it would be unlikely the city would want to take on a long-term commitment to pay for their upkeep. The county has budgeted about $25 million this year for major road maintenance projects.

Residents and road safety advocates including non-profit advocacy group Walk Bike Tampa were among those seeking bike lanes and other traffic calming measures, including a Bay to Bay resurfacing project that’s expected to start this fall.

They renewed those calls recently after a mother and daughter were struck and killed on Bayshore Boulevard, also a county road.

The county is paying $650,000 toward construction of Bay to Bay while the city will chip in $120,000. The plan includes an additional turn lane at Bay-to-Bay and Bayshore and narrower lanes between Dale Mabry Hwy. and Esperanza Ave.

But the city refused to include bike lanes, arguing that the road is too busy and that parallel roads like Euclid and El Prado boulevards would be safer for those riding bicycles.

“Not every road is equipped nor should be a road that has a bike lane,” Buckhorn said.

John Lyons, the public works manager for Hillsborough County, said it might be more efficient if the two agencies were each responsible for their own roads. At the same time, Lyons said, the area’s road network needs to function seamlessly whether drivers are in the city or the county.

“It’s a grid system,” he said, “so the grid has to work together regardless of the jurisdiction of the road.”

Contact Christopher O’Donnell at codonnell@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3446. Follow @codonnell_Times.

Hillsborough shelves plan for nine-member commission, but voters may still face changes

By Christopher O’Donnell, Times Staff Writer

Published: June 6, 2018

Updated: June 6, 2018 at 04:39 PM

TAMPA — Hillsborough County commissioners have shelved, at least for now, a plan to overhaul the structure of the commission, likely averting a political fight along party lines.

Commission Chairwoman Sandy Murman on Wednesday withdrew her proposal to eliminate countywide seats and, instead, create nine single-member districts. The idea, which required approval by voters, was opposed by Democrats on the commission who saw it as a political move to protect the Republican’s majority on the board.

But the commission is pushing ahead with a proposal to switch from partisan to non-partisan the elections for sheriff, property appraiser and other offices established in the state Constitution.

This move also was opposed by the commission’s two Democrats, Les Miller and Pat Kemp, and passed with votes from the commission’s five Republicans. If ballot language is approved by a majority of commissioners later this month, the issue will go to voters in the November general election.

It was Murman’s single-member district plan that most alarmed Democrats.

Hillsborough’s 1.4 million people now are represented by seven county commissioners — four elected in equally apportioned single-member districts and three elected countywide. The mix of district and countywide seats was intended to give residents a say in both their local communities and the county as a whole.

Citizens now vote in four of the seven commission races, equivalent to a majority of the board, but under Murman’s plan would vote for just one candidate for a board of nine members.

Murman called the move a response to the county’s fast-growing population. In her District 1 seat, which covers South Tampa and western Hillsborough County, she represents some 400,000 constituents. She would like to see each commissioner represent no more than about 150,000 residents.

Her plan was blasted by the Hillsborough League of Women Voters as too transforming to rush onto the November ballot, as Murman planned.

The group also warned that commissioners would end up clashing over projects in their respective districts without focusing on the county as a whole and that allowing the commission the final say on district boundaries would amount to a conflict of interest.

Murman acknowledged at the board meeting Wednesday that her idea still needed some work.

“It appeared to me there might have been some confusion about what it all means,” she said.

She still plans to push for a change in the makeup of the commission to present voters as early as 2020, taking effect after data is available from the 2020 Census for redrawing existing districts.

“We need to bring districts closer to the people,” Murman said.

A public hearing will be held June 20 on the plan to make the county’s constitutional offices non-partisan and on Miller’s proposal to raise the percentage needed for a countywide referendum to pass to 60 percent. If both proposals go to a referendum, they would need only a simple majority to pass.

The countywide races for tax collector and sheriff often are used by political parties as proof of their support in the community and to build momentum. In 2016, Democrats won all four countywide races on the general election ballot, with victories for incumbents Bob Henriquez in the property appraiser’s race and Clerk of the Court Pat Frank and a surprise victory in the state attorney’s race for newcomer Andrew Warren.

The offices of state attorney and public defender would remain partisan races under the proposal the county is advancing.

Kemp said she voted against switching to non-partisan races because people tend to be more engaged when party affiliation is declared on the ballot and the process produces better candidates.

She also noted that there has been no call from the public for a change and questioned why Republicans want to make it possible for their candidates to run for office without a party label.

“I imagine at one time identifying as a Republican may have helped you in that position and maybe no longer does,” Kemp said.

Republican Commissioner Ken Hagan said the idea has always made sense to him.

“I do not understand the relevance of a partisan tax collector or sheriff,” he said. “I certainly do not want a partisan elections supervisor.”

Payroll records show $3.1 million in bonuses, incentives at CareerSource centers

By Mark Puente and Zachary T. Sampson, Times Staff Writers

Published: May 16, 2018

Updated: May 16, 2018 at 05:06 PM

Two Tampa Bay jobs centers have paid $3.1 million in incentives and bonuses in recent years to employees who helped them record more hirings than any workforce board in Florida.

The payout total for CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay includes $1.2 million in annual bonuses, with $40,000 going to former president and CEO Edward Peachey, and another $1.9 million to employees who helped the agencies boost their placement numbers since 2014.

For months, board members and elected officials have asked if any CareerSource employee benefitted financially from logging more placements. Administrators batted away the concerns, saying the incentive program was complicated and nobody made significant money from higher jobs numbers.

But detailed payroll records obtained by the Tampa Bay Times after repeated requests over several weeks show those statements were misleading. Several dozen employees earned thousands more each year if they hit placement benchmarks approved by Peachey, who then touted the figures to state and local officials.

The payments raise more questions as the U.S. Department of Labor and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity try to determine whether the centers inflated hiring reports to the state.

“I couldn’t believe that there were exorbitant amounts of money,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner and CareerSource Tampa Bay board member Sandy Murman. “What did we get for those incentive dollars? Is it the thousands of jobs that were misreported?”

During a public meeting earlier this year, Peachey told reporters he created the incentive structure but did not know if Florida’s other workforce boards had similar programs.

They do not. A recent payroll study conducted by an outside firm for the local jobs centers could not find another workforce agency with a similar incentive program.

Peachey was fired last month, but the incentive system remains as interim leaders try to rebuild the agencies.

Peachey’s attorney, Marion Hale, said Peachey did not pay “incentives for placements.”

“During the normal course of business, bonuses and incentives were paid to employees as their salaries were kept low and the extra payments were to incentivize them to provide excellent service,” Hale wrote in a statement.

As a result of the Times’ reporting on CareerSource, the DEO will now require workforce boards to make their compensation structure public, spokeswoman Tiffany Vause wrote in a statement.

“Protecting the taxpayers’ dollars and ensuring transparency and accountability in the workforce system continues to be the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity’s highest priority,” the statement said.

“We expect all local workforce boards to act with integrity and to effectively and efficiently use taxpayers’ dollars to carry out their missions. CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay need to be forthcoming.”

• • •

The CareerSource offices receive millions in federal tax dollars each year to train and connect people to employers.

During Peachey’s eight-year tenure running both agencies, they were hailed for how many people they put to work, routinely ranking higher than the state’s other 22 job centers.

Since the Times started publishing stories in January about whether the agencies took credit for getting thousands of people hired who never asked for help, CareerSource officials have maintained that no employee earned significant money for logging higher placements.

Yet they long had a system of monthly payouts, outlined in a recent two-page “Staff Performance Incentive Grid.”

Workers could earn up to $1,400 each month, or $16,800 annually, for exceeding certain benchmarks, according to the 2017-18 policy. The starting salary for recruiters at the agency was $35,000, according to CareerSource records.

Employees who recorded 76 to 100 people placed into new jobs each month received a $200 bonus. The amount jumped to $500 for 150 hirings.

Workers could also receive a $250 bonus for quickly getting 40 people into jobs. The agencies paid another $200 if workers obtained seven hiring lists from companies, which included names of employees who got jobs but never asked for help from CareerSource. Hit the maximum in every bonus category, the monthly payout was $1,400.

Current and former CareerSource staffers have described a cut-throat environment fueled by the incentives. Recruiters, they said, chased placements to satisfy numbers-obsessed bosses and to increase their take-home pay.

The agency paid the most incentive money in October 2014 — $72,000 –– to a total of 59 employees. The annual payments decreased from $618,000 in 2014 to $233,000 in 2017, records show. More than a dozen employees told the Times the agencies increased the benchmarks in recent years to make it harder to earn the maximum incentives.

As a result, the payments went from $53,650 in February 2015 to just $5,000 in February 2018, records show.

Human resources director Alice Cobb told several board members during an April meeting that the incentive plan changed in recent years to include a minimum threshold for performance, and said at least one person was fired for not reaching the goal.

“This is a very difficult incentive plan,” she said.

Peachey approved the incentive program each year and set performance goals along with his business services director — most recently Haley Loeun, who was fired in February amid allegations that she and Peachey were romantically involved. Both denied the claims of an inappropriate relationship by current and former staffers.

Peachey also paid separate bonuses to seven employees last fall, totaling about $7,000, after they helped CareerSource Pinellas win $333,333 in Gov. Rick Scott’s statewide contest to get residents off unemployment assistance and back to work. Placements were one component in the contest, officials said.

• • •

CareerSource Pinellas and CareerSource Tampa Bay have repeatedly declared that no employee substantially benefited from job placements.

After a public meeting in early February, Peachey told Times reporters that some employees “do receive incentives, but it wouldn’t help them to report more to the state. To inflate the numbers? No.”

During meetings in February and March, CareerSource attorney Charles Harris and CareerSource Tampa Bay board chair Dick Peck acknowledged the payments but didn’t provide details.

Peck declined to tell board members about incentive totals and how the program worked on Feb. 15, saying he wanted more information. Weeks later, he said the program was “nothing anybody is making a lot of money over.”

This month, Cobb told the compensation committee that more than 20 employees received incentives since 2016. She did not include totals, and no board member requested them.

The boards learned the full extent of the payments only after the Times requested detailed breakdowns.

Before providing complete records, the agencies repeatedly sent files to the Times that were inaccurate, either missing information or containing duplicate payments for some employees.

Interim leaders attributed the erroneous reports to not being able to reach their part-time payroll coordinator, a former high-ranking employee, who earns $50 an hour working from her home in Apollo Beach.

Murman, the Hillsborough commissioner, said the county has had trouble getting accurate records from the agencies.

“It’s so difficult to untangle the mess that was made with the employees and payroll and services,” Murman said.

• • •

In the past four years, the local CareerSource agencies have not paid across-the-board raises to staffers. Instead, they handed out annual bonuses for up to 5 percent of workers’ salaries, records show.

Managers determined payouts based on job performance. They also received the biggest bonuses each year.

In the past four years, Peachey’s bonuses averaged about $10,000 annually. Loeun earned a total of $21,500 — the third-most of all employees, payroll records show. In 2017, she received $6,500, the second-highest behind Peachey.

Neither of them responded to a request for comment.

The year-end performance bonuses are not directly tied to placements like the incentive payments for recruiters. But Peachey, records show, touted the placements when requesting a raise in early 2015.

“That’s what you have to look at,” Peachey said, according to an audio recording of a meeting with board members. “Are we doing what the state and feds want us to do? Are we effective? I think the answer to that is yes.”

The DEO said it will hold officials accountable for any wrongdoing uncovered in the investigations. Investigators have said they have “reasonable suspicion” of potential criminal conduct, though they have not tied that to the incentive program.

“We continue to remain committed to executing a full and thorough investigation and we will hold any failure to act ethically and responsibly, fully accountable,” Vause wrote in her statement.

Mosaic To Relocate Headquarters To Hillsborough County

The Mosaic Company announced late Monday that it intends to move its corporate headquarters to Hillsborough County

By Don Johnson, Patch National Staff | May 14, 2018 7:10 pm ET | Updated May 14, 2018 7:43 pm ET

TAMPA, FL – The Mosaic Company announced late Monday that it intends to move its corporate headquarters, including senior executives and related functions, from Plymouth, Minn. to Hillsborough County. Details of the move, including timing, the exact location of the corporate office and the number of employees to be relocated, remain under consideration.

“Mosaic is among the largest employers and most significant corporate economic drivers in Central Florida,” said Mosaic President and CEO Joc O’Rourke. “We believe locating our corporate office there will give us opportunities to amplify Mosaic’s presence (in Central Florida) and engage more closely with communities where we operate. With the cost savings we expect to achieve and the closer proximity to our Mosaic Fertilizantes business in Brazil, this move will drive improved efficiency and good value.”

Mosaic is a Fortune 500 company with over 100 years of phosphate mining history in the U.S. It is the world’s largest combined producer of potash and phosphates, two vital plant nutrients. Mosaic already had its largest domestic presence in Florida, where it employs 3,000 Floridians and an additional 3,000 contractors.

During the 2017 calendar year, Mosaic’s economic impact in Florida included a $465 million in payroll.

“We are thrilled that Mosaic is moving its corporate headquarters to Hillsborough County,” said Sandy Murman, chair of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. “Mosaic has had a significant presence here for a century, directly employing thousands of county residents and supporting tens of thousands of jobs related to the phosphate and fertilizer industry and at Port Tampa Bay. In addition to helping to drive our local economy, Mosaic has contributed millions of dollars and countless volunteer hours over the past several decades to local nonprofit organizations. We thank Mosaic for strengthening their commitment to our community and look forward to supporting them as they establish their headquarters in Hillsborough County.”

In recent years, the company significantly expanded its business into South America, acquiring Archer Daniels Midland Company’s fertilizer distribution business in Brazil and Paraguay in 2014 and Vale Fertilizantes in Brazil in 2018.

The company said the move will allow it to reconsider its U.S. office footprint, including its spaces in Plymouth, as well as its FishHawk and Highland Oaks locations in Florida. As a result of the company’s transformation in recent years, excess office space exists at those locations, according to a press release.

“We will execute this move with as little disruption as possible and with sensitivity to our employees’ personal situations,” O’Rourke said. “Mosaic is fortunate to have a deeply talented workforce, and we fully intend to maintain that competitive advantage.”

“Recruiting corporate headquarters is a top priority of our three-year strategic plan,” said Alan F. List, chairman of the Tampa Hillsborough Economic Development Corporation and president and CEO of Moffitt Cancer Center. “Mosaic’s selection of Hillsborough County proves that this community offers the business climate, talent, cost advantages, and quality of life that a Fortune 500 global headquarters operation requires. We will be delighted to welcome Mosaic’s relocated team and look forward to helping them discover everything they need to thrive here.”