Naples News

Haynes Corp. is revving up for an expansion in Collier County.

The company is the only independent domestic manufacturer of precision diesel fuel injection systems for heavy-duty engines.

Collier County commissioners on Wednesday voted unanimously to allow the manufacturer to tap county incentives for an expansion here, though the jobs it will create won’t meet the average wage requirements for the government assistance programs.

With the vote, the company plans to move its California operations here, bringing 20 jobs to the Naples area.

The county’s incentive programs are designed to diversify the local economy and create high-wage jobs.

Tammie Nemecek, president and CEO of the Collier County Economic Development Council, urged commissioners to approve the assistance, saying the jobs wouldn’t come here otherwise.

“But for this incentiv they are not going to bring this California operation here,” she told commissioners.

The company’s headquarters currently has 45 employees. After consolidating its operations in Norwalk, Calif., Haynes would have 65 employees in the Naples area.

To support the expansion, the company plans to put up a new 30,000 square foot building next to its headquarters off Mercantile Avenue. The investment is estimated at $1.85 million, including the purchase of new manufacturing equipment. Construction is expected to start next spring.

The new jobs in Naples will be offered to the company’s California employees and outsiders, with preference given to applicants who agree to live in Collier County.

David Jackson, the county’s executive director of business and economic development, said the incentive programs as they’re currently designed aren’t working and need to be updated to reflect today’s economy. A plan for change is in the works and will come to commissioners for approval this fall, he said.

He said every job that’s created tickse, away at the county’s high rate of unemployment, which hovers above state and national averages. In June, Collier had a jobless rate of 12.3 percent, up from 11.3 percent in May, according to the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation.

Without the county incentives, Haynes would have considered relocating to California or Jackson, Mich.

The new jobs in Collier would pay an average wage of $34,320. The rules for the county’s incentive programs require an average wage of $58,928, or 50 percent above the county’s average private sector wage, which is estimated at $39,258.

The 45 retained jobs pay an average of $42,078. These are corporate jobs, as well as jobs in manufacturing and production.

Haynes would receive $161,550 in county incentives after creating the new jobs. That money will come back to the county in property, gas and sales taxes, with most – if not all – of the company’s employees living in Collier, Jackson argued.

At first, Commissioner

Jim Coletta said he was reluctant to approve the waiver allowing Haynes to get the incentives, fearing it would set a bad precedent. But he felt more comfortable with it after hearing that changes to the incentive programs are in the works and will be brought to the board in September or October.

In today’s economy, Coletta said he understands the goal is “just trying to provide jobs for people.” But when the economy improves the focus should be more on attracting high-wage jobs, as it has been for years.

“The economy fluctuates, whatever we have has to be able to meet the conditions as it changes,” Jackson said.

County commissioners have only granted a waiver one other time.

Haynes will get $2,000 for every job it creates, $79,550 to offset impact fees for the construction of its new building, and $1,000 for every job that’s kept by a Collier County resident.

Haynes was founded in Jackson, Michigan in 1960 by Laurance Haynes as a manufacturer’s representative for diesel engines and related parts. It grew through a series of acquisitions.

In 1988, the company acquired the Bendix diesel fuel injection product line. That included a manufacturing plant in Naples, which greatly enhanced its manufacturing and engineering capabilities.

The company’s products include fuel injection pumps, injector assemblies, plungers and barrels. Its customers include John Deere and General Electric.

A few years ago, Haynes’ owners looked at bringing the California operations to Naples, but they didn’t because of a bad business climate, Nemecek said.

“There has been a significant change in the attitude of the community toward business,” she said.

That helped change the company’s mind about expanding here.

Connect with Laura Layden at www.naplesnews.com/staff/laura_layden.

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