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Fencing company moves to AirPark

Alumi-Guard expects to spend about $8-million on its new facility and hire 30 additional employees over the next three years.

By JENNIFER LIBERTO
Published April 15, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - A Hudson company that makes decorative aluminum fencing is moving to the Hernando County Corporate AirPark.

Alumi-Guard, a 5-year-old company that employs about 90 people, has committed to constructing a 200,000-square-foot building on 12.9 acres along Corporate Boulevard, near the Hernando County Airport.

The company, which was looking for a suitable site to expand, hopes to start working out of its new building by January.

Alumi-Guard expects to spend $8-million on equipment purchases and building construction. The building would be the second-largest industrial facility in the county, though at more than 1-million square feet the massive Wal-Mart Distribution Center in Ridge Manor West dwarfs all others.

Alumi-Guard's announcement is a coup for the county, which has been trying to attract more industry to the 250-acre Corporate AirPark, which has streets, water and sewer lines, but few buildings.

Alumi-Guard will become the sixth tenant in the park, and it plans to take up five lots, while putting dibs on two more for future growth.

"It's kind of been sleeping down there," said Mike McHugh, director of the Office of Business Development. "I'm really hoping this will be a stimulus for that area."

The company makes a high-end, rust-proof aluminum fencing that is used in upscale gated communities outside Florida. The fencing has also been used around pools, storage facilities and expensive waterfront houses.

Managers at Alumi-Guard have told the county they plan to hire 30 additional employees over the next three years. Those jobs will pay at least $28,800 a year, because the company is applying for both state and county economic development incentives that require companies to pay wages 15 percent higher than the county average.

McHugh said he began talking with the company in October and that the company also considered a site in North Carolina.

Alumi-Guard president William Woodard also runs another company at the Hudson locaton, and he intends to keep at the Hudson location, near U.S. 19 and New York Avenue.

Hernando County owns the airport, which sits on 2,400 acres and includes the Airport Industrial Park, the Corporate AirPark and the county's RailPark. Revenue from business leases there helps pay for operations and growth at the airport.

The Hernando County Aviation Authority approved the lease with Alumi-Guard on Thursday, and the lease will go before the County Commission on April 26.

-- Jennifer Liberto can be reached at 352 848-1434 or liberto@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 15, 2005, 00:49:17]