by IN reporter Sean Boone
by Sean Boone
Pensacola Port Director Clyde E. Mathis says the proposed Council amendment to the lease between the Pate Stevedore cold storage company and the city will be a great benefit for the community.
“We’ve been negotiating for several months with Pate and their new business partner to bring this before Council,” he says. “The biggest thing I like about it is it will be a job creator. I think it will easily bring in 70 new jobs.”
The proposed amendment allows Pate to acquire a 68,000-foot warehouse at the port and change names to Northwest Florida Cold Storage, Inc. The company would continue out its current lease until 2022. The port projects the income to city from leasing the property to be between $600-850,000 per year.
Mathis says one of the big advantages for city is the part of the port it sits on is not in the mixed-use zoning.
He also says the new storage area will allow for great competition in Eastern European markets.
“This will really put us in the market for Eastern Euro market because they except larger shipments,” he says. “Once we become larger, it of course will allow us to be more marketable.”
“We will also be able to have blast freezer sales (with the expansion), where poultry can be frozen on location. This should give us another marketing advantage.”