This partnership with the city brings home the bacon.
The Plant City Economic Development Corporation (PCEDC) was established in 2015. It is a public-private partnership between the City of Plant City and local, private-sector investors. The reason for its existence is to create jobs and strengthen the local tax base. Its primary goals are to attract new businesses and promote expansions of existing companies in Plant City. The PCEDC is led by its president, Steve Morey.
From 2024 to 2025, Plant City businesses saw an addition of 220 new jobs, which amounts to .9 percent. The five areas with the largest growth were: healthcare, with 83 jobs; construction, with 75 positions; wholesale trade, 73 jobs; arts, entertainment, and recreation, 52 positions; and educational services, 26 jobs.
The five largest industries in Plant City are:
1. Wholesale Trade, which includes businesses such as food distributors and furniture and home goods distributors. The growth for this sector over the last 10 years has been 1,232 jobs. There are currently 3,043 people working in this field.
2. Construction. The growth in the last 10 years has been 1,491 jobs, and now there are 3,007 employed.
3. Manufacturing. The 10-year growth is 749 positions, and there are currently 3,000 employed.
4. Retail Trade. The 10-year increase is 218 jobs. Today, there are 2,979 workers who have jobs in this sector.
5. Healthcare has had a 10-year growth of 691 jobs. There are currently 2,792 employees in this segment.
Also, in the last 10 years, 25 buildings with more than 11 million square feet of commercial space have been built in Plant City with a taxable value of more than $800 million. The largest new leasees over the last 12 months are Check Sammy with 115,000 square feet on County Line Rd., and Roland with 113,000 on Coronet Rd. Also, Sysco opened a new, 500,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in July. This facility brought in 300 new jobs, with an average annual salary of $82,500.
“In the history of the PCEDC, they are responsible for bringing in a tremendous amount of jobs and beneficial increases to the overall tax base of the city,” City Manager Bill McDaniel said. “When you bring in that type of commercial development, and it contributes to the tax base, that lessens the burden, the cost of services on the residents. Some of those jobs have average salaries of $85,000, that is a pretty good improvement for our citizens. It creates a tremendous amount of employment opportunities that previously didn’t exist. You can rattle off a whole list of different companies that are out there that are really significant employers in our community now, that didn’t exist 10 years ago. The thing with the PCEDC is they are working every day, every week, to continue on that path of success….It takes a long time and a lot of effort behind the scenes to be able to go through the process that results in us getting a large-scale distribution center or a large-scale employer. The PCEDC is an extremely effective tool for making that happen.”
Another major economic gain in the past 12 months came in June when Governor Ron DeSantis announced a $5.5 milion grant to the City of Plant City for the construction of a 2.75-mile loop extension of Henderson Way, allowing access to 310 acres of commercial and light industrial development sites. The project, south of U.S. 92 and east of S. Park Rd., includes a potable water distribution system, a water collection system, a reclaimed water distribution system, electrical infrastructure, a two- and three-lane road system, and commercial utilities. The road will begin at the eastern end of Henderson Way, loop through the site, and end at a new intersection at S. Park Rd. “The PCEDC, and Steve, in particular, were extremely helpful in that process,” McDaniel said. “I would say they made it extremely easy to do it, and provided a level of expertise from the private side that was very beneficial to meeting the different requirements to get that grant. They not only executed, but then put us in the position as a city to get our reimbursement in a timely manner.”
An additional win for jobs is the soon-to-open Rick Lott Technical College. This is a Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) project that sits on 16 acres on E. Park Rd., just west of the Plant City Stadium. The trades that will be taught are Industrial Electricity, Welding Technology, Building Construction Technology, and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC). One building holds 16 classrooms with eight on each floor. The other main building will hold six classrooms, each with storage space and its own shop where students will get hands-on training. Each classroom has space for 30 students.
Plant City’s total projected job growth for the next 12 months is 1.4 percent.
