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Around the State
Columbia County -- Utah-based Savage Industries this spring will open a plant to transport sulfur and a phosphate liquid used in fertilizers. The company is completing a $6 million facility and planned to hire as many as 30 people.
Fernandina Beach-- The state's longest continuously operating bar, the Palace Saloon, all but burned down in an electrical fire. The owner hopes to rebuild the landmark in time for the shrimp festival in May.
Jacksonville -- The nation's fourth largest software maker, New York City-based Computer Associates International Inc., is buying local Computer Management Sciences, a consulting firm, for $435 million. Officials said Computer Management's 900 employees, 260 in Jacksonville, would remain.
Logistics Services International won two Department of Defense contracts totaling $221 million to create computerized training programs for military jets and helicopters. LSI plans to add 50 workers to its local workforce of 270.
Jacksonville Beach -- Two Ponte Vedra Beach developers plan to take the seedy oceanfront Golden Sands Motel and create an upscale, gated apartment complex. Separately, luxury condominiums are under construction by F.M.M. Development Group.
Putnam County -- While environmental regulators and officials of a Georgia-Pacific paper mill discuss plant upgrades, Putnam and Duval county residents have announced opposition to a proposed mill pipeline to discharge waste into the St. Johns River.
Bridge builder PDM Bridge Corp. has grown from 60 to 96 workers in the past year after its takeover by Wisconsin-based Pitt-DesMoines. PDM expects more growth, and St. Johns River Community College is training nearly three dozen workers in the necessary drafting and metal-working skills.
St. Augustine -- The first new major apartment complex in the city in a decade is under construction. Jacksonville-based Vestcor Cos. is building 328 upscale apartments near the city gates.
JACKSONVILLE -- Navy jobs will take a big hit this year, about 400 positions will be cut at Jacksonville Naval Air Station, as the fleet of ES-3 Shadow reconnaissance planes are decommissioned and the role of S-3 Viking jets reduced.
