Actavis intends to cut costs by closing some of the 28 plants that resulted from the buyout by Watson Pharmaceuticals. But a facility in Florida is not only being spared that fate but is being expanded. And since job-creating projects are a hot commodity, the company is getting help from taxpayers, just like other projects around the world.
Actavis ($ACT) is investing $40.5 million in its plant in Davie, FL, which is slated to create 220 jobs. The drugmaker will add about 16,700 square feet of manufacturing space, as well as 13,000 square feet of warehouse space. The company did not respond to a request for comment, but a release from the office of the Florida governor says the project will get under way in the third quarter and take 12 months to complete.
The facility, which Actavis considers a "center for excellence," opened in 1992 and makes about 2.2 billion immediate and extended-release units annually. According to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, if the company hits certain job goals it will get $690,000 from a discretionary fund from the governor, $1.1 million in job-creation incentives, $440,000 from the town of Davie and is eligible for up to $584,500 in training grants.
State and local governments around the country and around the world have been handing out incentives to draw jobs and drugmaking technology. Hospira ($HSP) is getting about $13 million worth of assistance over 10 years for an $85 million expansion of its plant in Rocky Mount, NC. Qualicaps just snagged a $235,000 grant for an expansion in North Carolina, and Strides Arcolab said it is benefiting from some support from Malaysia for building a biologics plant there.
- read the state's release
- get more from the Sun Sentinel