Part of Indian River manufacturing firm Microtech moving to Pennsylvania
By Alexi Howk
staff writer
January 20, 2005
VERO BEACH Going once. Going twice. Sold to the highest bidder in the northeast.
At least that's the picture Tony Marfione paints when he talks about the reasons he's moving part of his multi-million dollar knife manufacturing business off Oslo Road out of Indian River County, as he expands to Bradford, Pa.
After nearly 10 years in the county, the 34-year-old Vero Beach resident and owner of Microtech is moving where he said there are more incentives, such as tax abatements, an abundance of highly skilled workers and adequate and affordable space galore.
Once there, Marfione said he would create more than 250 well-paying high-tech jobs within a three-year period as he ventures into new product lines culinary, archery and flashlights.
The first stage moving Microtech's assembly and administrative departments is expected to begin today. Marfione said he plans to leave his tactical knife manufacturing plant in Florida but not necessarily in Indian River County depending on the county's willingness to meet or exceed attractive offers from other surrounding areas such as Brevard.
Producing knives
Known for its high-end tactical knives sold to local and national law-enforcement agencies, the military, sportsmen and knife collectors, Microtech produces 500 to 600 knives per week, Marfione said. His average price range is about $250, and his knives can cost up to $600.
Marfione said his expansion plans have been a struggle with the county for several years as he has tried to gain its support in helping his company grow, but said the county wasn't aggressive in proposing attractive enough offers that would allow him to stay.
In addition to expanding his product lines and increasing current production, that plan, he said, included a homeland security training facility, a high-tech vocational training program in conjunction with a local college of the county's choice and an on-site child-care learning center with plans to open two additional centers in the county.
County's view
But county officials argue they did everything they could to keep Marfione and his company in Vero Beach.
"We have offered to work with (Tony) as much as we can and give him advice and technical assistance," said Bob Keating, the county's community development director. "What happens is other jurisdictions are in a position to offer incentives because bad things happened to them."
Keating cited Knight Enterprises LLC where Marfione worked for a year before starting his own company as an example. That company moved the bulk of its business several ago out of the county and into a vacated building the old Tomahawk missle plant in Titusville, where it was expected to create more than 450 new jobs.
"Brevard had a meltdown of a high-tech industry and you had a lot of vacant buildings," Keating said. "First of all, we're small. We're not a major metropolitan area. That's one of the challenges we face. (Brevard) has a lot of high-tech people because they have companies like Harris and Grumman there."
Incentives offered
Keating said the county provided training programs, grants and other incentives to Microtech at both the state and local level. He said the county would have offered a 20 percent match to the state's roughly $4,500 grant per employee.
"In some cases you can provide all the incentives in the world, but you can't override the negatives. Workforce has always been a negative," Keating said.
And that's been an obstacle for Microtech.
After the hurricanes hit, Marfione said, he lost half of his workforce to other companies because his more than 8,000-square-foot manufacturing plant was shut down for almost a month because it had no electricity. He said he is now down from about 45 employees to 20.
Marfione said it's been difficult recruiting new employees in the area to fill his empty positions that pay between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
Marfione said he aggressively sought highly skilled workers computer programmers and machinists for months through various ads, but said only 10 applicants responded.
"That's why I wanted to build a training facility here," he said. "There is a workforce here, it just needs to be tapped. My whole spin was to train the workforce we already have."
- alexi.howk@scripps.com
Reasons Microtech cites for leaving Indian River County
Inadequate or noncompetitive county and state programs
Unfriendly atmosphere for manufacturers in the county, which is primarily a retirement community
Untrained labor pool
High local taxes
Very little industrial support or industry in the area
Very few local flexible commercial lending institutions that understand and support domestic manufacturing
Copyright 2005, Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing Co.
By Alexi Howk
staff writer
January 20, 2005
VERO BEACH Going once. Going twice. Sold to the highest bidder in the northeast.
At least that's the picture Tony Marfione paints when he talks about the reasons he's moving part of his multi-million dollar knife manufacturing business off Oslo Road out of Indian River County, as he expands to Bradford, Pa.
After nearly 10 years in the county, the 34-year-old Vero Beach resident and owner of Microtech is moving where he said there are more incentives, such as tax abatements, an abundance of highly skilled workers and adequate and affordable space galore.
Once there, Marfione said he would create more than 250 well-paying high-tech jobs within a three-year period as he ventures into new product lines culinary, archery and flashlights.
The first stage moving Microtech's assembly and administrative departments is expected to begin today. Marfione said he plans to leave his tactical knife manufacturing plant in Florida but not necessarily in Indian River County depending on the county's willingness to meet or exceed attractive offers from other surrounding areas such as Brevard.
Producing knives
Known for its high-end tactical knives sold to local and national law-enforcement agencies, the military, sportsmen and knife collectors, Microtech produces 500 to 600 knives per week, Marfione said. His average price range is about $250, and his knives can cost up to $600.
Marfione said his expansion plans have been a struggle with the county for several years as he has tried to gain its support in helping his company grow, but said the county wasn't aggressive in proposing attractive enough offers that would allow him to stay.
In addition to expanding his product lines and increasing current production, that plan, he said, included a homeland security training facility, a high-tech vocational training program in conjunction with a local college of the county's choice and an on-site child-care learning center with plans to open two additional centers in the county.
County's view
But county officials argue they did everything they could to keep Marfione and his company in Vero Beach.
"We have offered to work with (Tony) as much as we can and give him advice and technical assistance," said Bob Keating, the county's community development director. "What happens is other jurisdictions are in a position to offer incentives because bad things happened to them."
Keating cited Knight Enterprises LLC where Marfione worked for a year before starting his own company as an example. That company moved the bulk of its business several ago out of the county and into a vacated building the old Tomahawk missle plant in Titusville, where it was expected to create more than 450 new jobs.
"Brevard had a meltdown of a high-tech industry and you had a lot of vacant buildings," Keating said. "First of all, we're small. We're not a major metropolitan area. That's one of the challenges we face. (Brevard) has a lot of high-tech people because they have companies like Harris and Grumman there."
Incentives offered
Keating said the county provided training programs, grants and other incentives to Microtech at both the state and local level. He said the county would have offered a 20 percent match to the state's roughly $4,500 grant per employee.
"In some cases you can provide all the incentives in the world, but you can't override the negatives. Workforce has always been a negative," Keating said.
And that's been an obstacle for Microtech.
After the hurricanes hit, Marfione said, he lost half of his workforce to other companies because his more than 8,000-square-foot manufacturing plant was shut down for almost a month because it had no electricity. He said he is now down from about 45 employees to 20.
Marfione said it's been difficult recruiting new employees in the area to fill his empty positions that pay between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
Marfione said he aggressively sought highly skilled workers computer programmers and machinists for months through various ads, but said only 10 applicants responded.
"That's why I wanted to build a training facility here," he said. "There is a workforce here, it just needs to be tapped. My whole spin was to train the workforce we already have."
- alexi.howk@scripps.com
Reasons Microtech cites for leaving Indian River County
Inadequate or noncompetitive county and state programs
Unfriendly atmosphere for manufacturers in the county, which is primarily a retirement community
Untrained labor pool
High local taxes
Very little industrial support or industry in the area
Very few local flexible commercial lending institutions that understand and support domestic manufacturing
Copyright 2005, Scripps Treasure Coast Publishing Co.
