MiTek leaders joined the Pasco Economic Development Council, City of Zephyrhills and the Pasco Board of County Commissioners last week to announce an $80 million manufacturing project.

Photo courtesy of the City of Zephyrhills

Last week, Missouri-based construction technology company MiTek announced it would be constructing its fourth location in Florida at the North Tampa Industrial Park Ready Site. The $80 million investment will be used to buildout a 480,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility to produce steel connector plates and builder products tailored to the construction industry. Its 111-acre site is currently headed into the first of three phases of construction, focusing on site development work. The company plans to officially break ground in phase two, anticipated to begin by the end of 2024. The new facility will create 25 new jobs and retain 125 jobs as operations begin in 2026. MiTek’s project received incentives totaling $2.9 million from the city of Zephyrhills and a 10-year performance-based Economic Incentive Agreement for ad valorem tax reimbursement, job creation and $3.15 million workforce training grant from the Pasco County Commissioners.

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Kilombero Sugar Company is Tanzania’s largest sugar producer.

Photo courtesy of the Kilombero Sugar Company

By June 2025, the Kilombero Sugar Company expects to open doors to a $318.8 million expansion of its Tanzania manufacturing facility. Additional space at the plant will allow the company to scale its current 126,000 tons-per-year capacity to 271,000 tons annually once complete. The expansion will reduce the country’s reliance on importing sugar while building the domestic supply chain. As capacity is set to more than double current sugar production, the company has said it will additionally look to double its sugar cane suppliers, adding 8,000 new farmers to its operations.

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Harman’s new Querétaro site will be the company’s fourth plant in the state.

Photo courtesy of Harman International

Through its automotive division, electronics company Harman, an independent subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., will invest in two new Mexico facilities. Harman Automotive has said the states of Querétaro and Chihuahua were selected for the projects. The city of Santiago de Querétaro in the state of Querétaro will gain a $115 million investment toward an entertainment systems manufacturing plant, creating 1,100 new jobs once complete. North of that location in Chihuahua’s border region, Harman is investing $15.9 million to construct a plant focused on plastic injection molding of parts to enhance the industry’s supply chain. The site in Juarez will be the company’s fourth in that location, with plans to initially produce 250,000 units per year, scaling to 7 million over five years. Harman has said this facility will create 100 new
direct jobs.

Reports compiled and written by Alexis Elmore, edited by Adam Bruns