Local

Gov. Scott attends Anheuser-Busch aluminum bottle plant groundbreaking

Seventy-five jobs are coming to Jacksonville, and Gov. Rick Scott visited the city Thursday morning to show his support.

Gov. Scott, several city council members, and employees of Anheuser-Busch gathered off Peavy Road with shovels in hand for the groundbreaking ceremony of an upcoming aluminum bottle plant.

Anheuser-Busch is investing $178 million into the project which is set to be completed by January 2017.

Jay Hamm and his family stood alongside Gov. Scott Thursday morning during the ceremony.

Hamm has been with the company for decades and began as a warehouse employee in 1975.

Now Hamm is one of the company's top equipment experts, and will be heading to Japan next week to make sure the right equipment is coming to Jacksonville for this new project.

"For all of us this is an all new concept. We are all going to have to re-learn what we have been learning over the last few years so it's going to be exciting," said Hamm.

Gov. Scott said 75 people will now have the same opportunity as Hamm, and so far, only 11 of those have been filled.

They are hiring for maintenance positions to administrative positions, and looking into candidates who have industrial experience

On Thursday, Scott touted employment success throughout Florida, especially in Jacksonville, saying there have been 20,000 jobs created just in the last 12 months.

"One of the reasons why this plant is here is because we have permanently gotten rid of the sales tax on machinery equipment so it makes it easier for them to invest," says Governor Scott.