Industrial ink firm is moving to county

The company plans to hire four more employees.

By JODIE TILLMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published August 23, 2007

ODESSA - A company that specializes in making the ink used on industrial packaging is leaving Tampa for Pasco County, economic development officials said Wednesday.

Talon Industries, a 17-year-old company with nine employees, is expected to hire four more people after it moves into West Pasco Industrial Park on State Road 54 next month, said Bryan Kamm of Pasco Economic Development Council.

Though the company is small, Kamm said it is the type of well-established manufacturer the county needs as it tries to transform itself from a bedroom community.

"They're a good, strong company," he said.

Talon president Carmel Klein did not return a phone message Wednesday. Klein, along with five other top company officials, already live in Pasco County, according to state corporations records.

The company, now located on Fourth Avenue E in Tampa, will occupy a little over half of a 28,000-square-foot building at the Odessa industrial park.

According to the company Web site, Talon makes industrial ink jet inks, cleaning solvent and other products used in marking and coding items in the manufacturing and packaging industry.

In other news, Pasco EDC officials revealed they have been working with a consultant who is looking for property in Florida to build a nearly 500,000-square-foot bottling facility. Officials did not identify the consultant or the bottling company, citing the business' request for confidentiality, but said such a facility would represent a $100-million capital investment.

Pasco EDC vice president John Walsh said the consultant met with representatives from Pasco County's utilities and development services departments and with an official from Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative. The consultant, who traveled to other Florida counties, will be narrowing the list to three.

Jodie Tillman can be reached at 727 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified August 22, 2007, 21:21:53]