Authorities in Winter Haven, Florida approved the sale of 77 acres of land worth $3.3mn to Florida Can Manufacturing this month to build an aluminium can manufacturing facility worth $120mn.
The company, a subsidiary of CC1, a bottling and distributing company based in Miami, will employ 160 people at the facility. Mike Herr, Winter Haven’s city manager, said the project was necessary to create jobs and noted that the county’s unemployment rate had soared to 19pc in May.
The project is intended to meet growing demand for recyclable aluminum cans over plastic bottles. According to media reports, CC1 said it plans to expand with two more facilities if demand continues growing over the coming years., which would create 340 jobs.
According to a company’= announcement in December 2019, construction was supposed to begin in early 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic. Florida Caribbean Distillers, a sister company to Florida Can Manufacturing, will control the facility, said Jose Rivera, general manager of Florida Caribbean Distillers. He said the company intends to begin construction in the coming months and should be operational in Q3 2021.