Economic Developers Go Above and Beyond to Bring Adams Arms, Inc. to Pasco County

September 27, 2012

The Pasco Economic Development Council (EDC), Inc. is pleased to announce that Adams Arms, Inc., the firearms industry leader in piston technology, has officially located in Pasco County and has signed the lease on a 12,000-square-foot building located in the West Pasco Industrial Park in Odessa. Adams Arms, Inc. needed room to grow and chose Pasco County after evaluating several states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The company is planning to add 29 new jobs to Florida with an average annual wage of $50,000 which is approximately 150 percent of the Pasco County average annual wage. “In July we received the working capital we needed to grow and now we are ready to move into our new location,” said Mike Froning, President/CEO of Adams Arms. “After evaluating several locations locally and in other states, Pasco County was the best choice for our company, employees and customers, and offered us the best opportunity for long-term growth of the company.” Pasco EDC and the State of Florida put together a strong case to keep Adams Arms, Inc. in Florida. On March 6, the Pasco County Commissioners agreed to provide $23,200 for Adams Arms, Inc. as a 20 percent match for Florida’s Qualified Target Industry (QTI) tax refund program. "This investment was important because Adams Arms’ expansion continues a trend of manufacturing growth in Florida,” said Gray Swoope, president & CEO of Enterprise Florida Inc., the state’s lead economic development organization. “Adams Arms is helping us strengthen the state’s manufacturing base, which is a focus of our economic development initiatives. We value this company as a business partner and community supporter.” The QTI incentive provides $4,000 per job created that meets or exceeds the county target wage. Based on the estimate for 29 new jobs, state QTI funds will total $116,000. In addition, Adams Arms qualified for $4,000 per job in local cash incentives from Pasco County—an additional $116,000 (less the QTI match). But faced with competition from other states, Pasco EDC was convinced they could do better. John Walsh, Vice President for Pasco EDC, discovered another incentive, so obscure that it had never been used in the history of the State of Florida. Under this program, Adams Arms was eligible for an additional $1,000 per job if the local financial support is equal to the base QTI award. Thanks to the aggressive local incentives in Pasco County, Adams Arms qualified for a $29,000 state bonus. “The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners is committed to economic development,” said John Walsh, Pasco EDC Vice President. “We will go above and beyond to bring highly skilled, higher paying jobs into Pasco County.”