Excitement building as BioNitrogen plant nears
Construction is still months away, but excitement is already building about the economic promise of the planned $300 million BioNitrogen fertilizer plant south of Clewiston in Hendry County.
The site plan for the construction of the project on 40 acres at the Weekly Brothers Industrial Park is being revised for some storm water runoff changes and then demolition of some existing buildings on the site, a former sugar refinery, will begin in the fall, said Ernie Iznaga, director of operations for BioNitrogen.
Construction of the plant, which produces urea fertilizer from biomass – mostly urban tree-trimmings and trees from cleared land in this case – will begin before the end of the year.
"One of the reasons we really liked that site is that it has a lot of existing infrastructure," Iznaga said, citing a gas pipeline and industrial-grade electric utilities. "Profit motives aside, our executive team is excited to make a difference in a community like Clewiston, which is really hungry for jobs."
Because of its highly agricultural workforce focused largely on sugarcane and citrus, Hendry County typically has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state when not in a harvesting season, including a rate of 10.6 percent rate in June.
That's what makes the plant so exciting for Hendry, said Gregg Gillman, president of the Hendry County Economic Development Council. The project is expected to create about 60 full-time jobs at $40,000 to $60,000 a year, as well as 250 construction jobs for the 18-month project.
"There are some local folks who are going to get be getting work directly from the construction, but some of those contractors and things we just don't have in our economy," Gillman said. "So, when they send a crew in they will stay all week at hotels and they will be eating at restaurants and going to the convenience stores. It is an almost instant boost."
Betsy Rodriguez, general manager of the Holiday Inn Express in Clewiston, said she has already had short conversations with contractors about staying at her hotel.
"I want to negotiate some group rates for them and it will be good for everyone," Rodriguez said.
BioNitrogen Holdings, which trades publicly as an over-the-counter stock, is based in West Palm Beach. The company received state and county incentives to build in Hendry County. It will receive a 90 percent reduction on the county portion of its property taxes for 10 years.
However, the exemption does not impact the portion of property taxes that goes to schools or hospitals. Gillman said the school system will receive more than $1 million annually in taxes from this project, and hospitals will receive about $750,000 a year.
BioNitrogen also received an about $300,000 Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund (QTI) incentive from Enterprise Florida Inc., and the Department of Transportation provided an about $850,000 grant for a turn lane into the site.
Tuesday Tritt, chairwoman of the Hendry Economic Development Council and vice president of First Bank of Clewiston, said the project is a long-term investment for the county.
"We are working to diversify our jobs because of our reliance on agriculture," Tritt said. "We are hoping that this helps get the message out that Hendry County has a lot to offer."
Gillman said he has had conversations with other companies that would be vendors for and working alongside the BioNitrogen plant and it may be only the beginning.
"As exciting as the project is, it's really about everything that could come after it," Gillman said.
BioNitrogen Corp.
• Trades: Over the counter as BION
• Based: West Palm Beach
• Makes: Urea (46 percent nitrogen) fertilizer from biomass, everything from urban tree trimmings to sugercane bagasse, for sale in North America.