PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURER HAS EYES ON CRESTVIEW AIRPARK

With the Florida A&M Pharmacy Schools coming to Crestview, it only makes sense, a Pharmaceutical manufacturer would follow.

Drug maker considering Crestview plant
By Brian Hughes brianh@crestviewbulletin.com
2011-05-03 09:26:07

It’s not a done deal, but efforts to lure a pharmaceutical manufacturer’s newest plant to Crestview might soon yield results, city and county officials said. If efforts to land the manufacturer are successful, the facility would initially provide about 130 high-paying jobs. Pharmacy South Inc., manufacturer of the respiratory drug Albuterol, has been in discussions with city leaders and county officials for several months. The company is also considering locations in Louisiana and Georgia. On Feb. 25, Mayor David Cadle, city council President Charles Baugh Jr. and Okaloosa County Commissioner Wayne Harris took Pharmacy South officials on a tour of Crestview, including local schools, the North Okaloosa Medical Center and some of the community’s neighborhoods. “We also showed them some land out by Bob Sikes Airport that might be available in the industrial zone for their plant,” Cadle said. The Crestview City Council unanimously approved drafting a letter to Gov. Rick Scott that will accompany a letter from Cadle, both missives encouraging the governor to support the project. Officials are hopeful that Scott’s pro-business record will benefit the local project. “It is a project that takes time,” Cadle said. “There are three communities that have been vying for their attention. We think that all indications are that they really like Crestview.” “Crestview wound up near the top of the pie after the company was courted by other states,” Baugh told the council. “A lot of things have to happen first,” Cadle said. “The resolution that passed the other night, along with a letter from me to ask Gov. Scott for support, will help tremendously.” Area businessmen, including former Destin mayor Craig Barker and his partner, Henry Kelley, have been working to facilitate the move, recognizing the benefits to the entire county should the plant open in Crestview. “Mayor Barker is really excited about the future of Crestview,” Cadle said. In addition to the benefits of locating in the recently expanded Crestview enterprise zone, particularly attractive to Pharmacy South is one of the community’s newest neighbors, the Florida A&M University pharmacy school planned for the downtown Alatex building. Cadle said Dr. Myron Honeywell, acting dean of the school, joined officials during the city tour in February. “The reason Dr. Honeywell was here was because the company and the College of Pharmaceutical Services would form a joint venture in the creation of a research and development center,” Cadle said. “Once introduced, this will act as a catalyst to induce other pharmaceutical companies to cluster here,” Cadle said. “That is why the pharmacy college is so important to us. It has drawing powers for these sorts of companies.” Cadle said the educational component of a FAMU and Pharmacy South partnership could even begin at the high school level, involving the CHOICE professional and technical studies program. “There will be mutual interest between the school system and the company to partner with education curriculums in the schools,” Cadle said. If Pharmacy South decides to open its new 45,000 square-foot plant here, it will be one of the most vigorously inspected construction projects ever built in the area, and one of northwest Florida’s most high-tech factories, Cadle said. Construction could take up to two years to complete. “They have to operate out of an FDA-approved facility,” Cadle said. “That takes a long time to build, because every aspect of the facility has to be approved. Even the concrete has to be inspected by the FDA.” Once the plant is up and running, production is vigorously controlled in a sterile environment. In fact, Cadle said, the first pair of hands to actually touch the Albuterol bottles and capsules will be those of the patient who uses it. “Human hands never touch this product until the consumer opens the box,” he said. The 130 positions that would initially come with the plant could expand to 400 or 500 within a couple years of the plant opening, Cadle said. The first 130 jobs would generate an estimated annual payroll of $6.8 million, with average salaries above $52,000, he said. “That’s 50 percent higher than the average Okaloosa County wage,” Cadle said. “This would expand our local economy away from tourism and the military industrial complex.” Cadle cautioned that Pharmacy South has not yet made a definite decision to open a plant in Crestview, but that city, county and, hopefully, state officials will continue to aggressively court the company. “There are still a lot of hurdles to pass,” Cadle said. “The state has to be involved in this. We want the state to get on board and press for this. We have lost out to border states on previous projects in the past.”