‘Project Speed' aims to bring jobs to Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — City leaders filed legislation Wednesday seeking to offer millions of dollars in incentives to an unnamed Fortune 500 company that specializes in advance manufacturing. The code name for the operation is “Project Speed.”

The city is invoking a state law that allows companies to request that their names not be released for a specified amount of time.

“What the company wants to do is to able to create jobs as soon as possible,” said Paul Crawford, deputy director of the city’s Office of Economic Development.  “They want to be able to grow their business and react to the market.”

Officials did reveal that Jacksonville is competing with other markets in the Southeast. The company has promised to bring 500 jobs to the area  by the end of 2016 with an average wage of $48,850. Officials said the process will benefit taxpayers in the end.

“By investing and creating hundreds of jobs, the company will in turn create new opportunities for our community,” said Mayor Alvin Brown in a statement to Action News.

The company’s name would be released in the first quarter of 2015, or sooner if the company so chooses. The full City Council could vote on the incentives package as early as September.

WJAX