The Washington County Economic Summit on Wednesday featured its "What's Up Down South?" presentations which outlined expansion plans for several businesses:
Litehouse Inc.--The maker of salad dressings, snacks and other food products announced that it is setting up operations in the Hurricane Industrial Park. The company plans to hire 60 to 70 employees the first year of operations and as many as 100 more over the course of the next three years. The positions are expected to be entry and supervisory level jobs with benefits. Approximately $10 million will be spent by Litehouse to prepare its building for food manufacturing.
Cox Trucking--The longtime trucking company announced it would expand later this year into a new facility in the Fort Pierce Industrial Park. Don Cox, vice president and co-owner, told the crowd the new facility will allow for 15 to 20 new jobs as the company offers additional warehousing and storage services, as well as a brokerage service for its customers.
Czarnowski Display Services Inc.--The manufacturer of trade show exhibits and affiliated services is opening a facility in the Fort Pierce Industrial Park for production and distribution. Approximately 50 jobs are expected to be created when operations are under way, with additional positions available depending on workload. The investment in the local community is expected to exceed $6.5 million. Thomas Jazwiecki, assistant general manager, said the company assists with events and manufactures exhibits for shows around the world.
Design to Print--The locally based printing company announced it will expand later this year in the Millcreek Industrial Park. The new facility will allow for the addition of five employees soon and as many as 15 additional employees to its current 42 workers over the course of the next five years.
Red Rock Commons--Geoffrey Sherman, vice president of development for Excel Trust Inc., shared plans for the development that will begin construction in March at the corner of 100 South and River Road in St. George. Tenants announced include Dick's Sporting Goods, which will provide a smaller version of its store but will include outdoors equipment as well as team uniform sales; Petsmart, which will provide pet supplies, food and grooming services; and Ulta, a women's skin care, perfume and make-up store. Three pads will be poured to allow for more retail or restaurants. Approximately 200 construction jobs are expected to be required for the project.
HealthCare Insight--Rebecca Colley, director of human resources and administration, announced an expansion for her company, which helps protect against fraud, waste and abuse in health care services. The company provides public and private sector payers with clinically validated abuse prevention services covering dental, vision, medical and pharmaceutical claims. It offers real-time claims processing and uses technology and a large data warehouse to help maximize health savings. Its recent move to the Tonaquint Center is expected to allow for the hiring of clinical, coding, administration and IT specialists in the next two years.
Dixie State College--The college is on the path to become a university within the next three to five years, said Dr. Stephen Nadauld, president of DSC. Enrollment in bachelor's-level classes has more than doubled since the fall of 2007 and more growth is expected in coming years, with enrollment likely to reach 12,000 university-track students in two to three years. Nadauld said bids will be opened in about two weeks for the Jeffrey R. Holland Centennial Commons, which will be a focal point for the campus. The project is expected to cost $48 million and will be five stories tall. The building is part of DSC's seven- to 10-year building plan, which includes an energy audit and remodels of buildings to allow for class space for math and science, education and music and fine arts.
Washington County Education--Marshall Topham, assistant superintendent for the Washington County School District, told the crowd that this is the first time in almost 30 years that the district is not behind in its building schedule to keep up with burgeoning enrollment. Hurricane High School is the only project currently under way at a cost of about $34 million. Topham said a new elementary school could be under construction as soon as early as next year in the Little Valley area. Enrollment actually dipped last year, but this year grew slightly to 25,519 students. The Spectrum
