March 29, 2024

Northwest: Right Time, Right Place

This region grows new business with solid connections and plenty of room.

HOLMES COUNTY

Making a comeback: AUS Manufacturing Company is enjoying a renaissance of sorts thanks to the recent push for cleaner energy along with new emission standards that require utilities to upgrade their power plants. The Bonifay-based manufacturing and fabrication company builds the multi-fuel burners used by power plants across the United States and overseas to produce electricity.

AUS President Jimmy Rich, Vice President James Sellers and partner Carlton Treadwell have more than 50 combined years of experience in the burner industry and a shared history in Holmes County. They all grew up in Bonifay, and the 56,000-square-foot building that today houses the AUS headquarters used to be a textile factory where Sellers’ mother once worked.

Although it hasn’t always been smooth sailing for this company, which was founded in 2001 with the assistance of a California-based firm, Sellers says the firm is flourishing now. “We’ve got a really good workforce in our county and good quality people in our area,” says Sellers. “We’re here because we wanted to be successful in our environment.”

JACKSON COUNTY

Crystal clear success: The Canadian company Ice River Springs is drawing water from several sources in the region for its newly opened bottling plant in the Jackson County Industrial Park in Marianna. Water drawn from the Marianna city well is being bottled and repackaged for clients who sell it under their own brand names. Water drawn from springs in neighboring Liberty and Bay counties is being bottled and distributed under the Ice River Springs brand.

WASHINGTON COUNTY

Cementing a deal: Foley Products Company, the largest supplier of precast concrete manholes in the southeastern United States, chose Washington County as the site of its first Florida facility. Key to inking the deal, which brings 150 new jobs and an estimated annual payroll of $5.1 million to the region, was the county’s commitment to build a dual rail spur. The spur will be available to Foley Products now and to other companies that locate in Washington County. A $2-million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation is being used to construct the spur.

Tags: Business Florida, Northwest

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