A manufacturing company based in Cape Coral plans to expand in Manatee County, creating 80 new jobs. JRL Ventures and its holdings company JRL Enterprises plans to purchase the former Wellcraft facility in South Manatee and expand its composite tool-making business. The facility, which has been vacant since 2008, will house all 80 positions, according to the company’s CEO.
"We have been looking for multiple years for a large building where we could expand. In the past we have had to move into various smaller buildings, which splintered our business among several locations,'' says Bob Long, CEO of JRL. "To build a new building would have been very expensive. The Wellcraft facility made sense because it has high ceilings for ventilation as well as a lot of the equipment we need.''
Long worked as president of Wellcraft for many years beginning in the mid-1970s, so he was very familiar with the facility. His current company will maintain its headquarters in Lee County, using the Manatee location for its expansion.
Long says the company plans to fill the approximate 80 jobs in the next three years.
"There are a lot of qualified candidates in Manatee County,'' he says. "The area has a very good labor market.''
As an engineering and design firm, Long goes on to say that the jobs his company plans to create will be mostly high-skilled positions. Job candidates can keep a lookout for opening positions on the
company’s website.
Writer:
Kimberly Patterson
Source: Bob Long,
JRL Ventures
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