PALM BAY - Bombardier Recreational Products US Inc. on Thursday officially announced a $2.7 million expansion plan for its operation in Palm Bay, choosing the area over sites in Stuart, Colorado, Illinois and Quebec.
Bombardier's Palm Bay facility is used for sport boat research and development.
The company's 20,000-square-foot building expansion also includes joining and enlarging two freshwater lakes and usage of the fill dirt for the proposed Palm Bay Parkway. The company has been working with the city of Palm Bay and the St. Johns River Water Management District to formalize plans.
This expansion is expected to create 16 jobs at an average annual wage of $51,500, which the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast said will have a direct payroll impact of $824,000.
"We continue to see a trend in expanding companies considering us as well as various
international sites," said Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission.
"It is an honor to be in the running with larger-scale communities, and, then, ultimately, to be the chosen site," Weatherman added.
Economic Development Commission has been working since July on helping put together the package of incentives presented to Bombardier.
Since 1987, Bombardier's recreational products division has maintained operations in Brevard County.
Over the years, Brevard operations have grown from a small research-and-development shop in Grant to a 1,000-acre personal watercraft and all-terrain vehicle engineering and sales facility in Palm Bay.
Bombardier's brands include Sea-Doo watercraft and boats, as well as Evinrude and Johnson outboard engines.
Bombardier employs about 40 people in Palm Bay.
"As the city has expanded its boundaries over the years, so has Bombardier Recreational Products US, and we look forward to a long relationship with this company," Palm Bay Mayor John Mazziotti said..
Michael Carter, director of sport boat engineering for Bombardier Recreational Products US, said the Space Coast "provides the perfect geographic setting for marine development and fine communities for our employees to live and raise their families."