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THE
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This Community Newspaper is a publication of the Escambia-Santa Rosa Bar Association
S E RV I N G T H E F I RS T J U D I C I A L C I RC U I T
GULF CABLE/WTEC Vol. 24, No. 13
March 27, 2024
SummationWeekly.com
1 Section, 12 Pages
Section A, Page 1
BREAKS GROUND ON NEW FACILITY AT SANTA ROSA INDUSTRIAL PARK
By Morgan Cole
F
irmly rooted as one of the largest manufacturing companies in Northwest Florida Gulf Cable and its parent company WTEC Energy, have obtained another 30 acres in Santa Rosa County with plans for expansion. In December 2023, Santa Rosa County officials broke ground on the new facility that will be built on eight acres in the Santa Rosa Industrial Park located at 5689 Industrial Blvd. in Milton, Florida. Gulf Cable/WTEC currently employs more than 300 individuals in the Santa Rosa Industrial Park. This additional property on Armstrong Road will be used to construct a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility that will house and facilitate the growth of their operations. Within the next three years, if all goes as anticipated, the company will occupy 1.2 million square feet of building space and employ between 600 and 800 people, according to Kevin Bate, the executive president of Gulf Cable’s parent company WTEC Energy. The company serves diverse markets including renewable (solar
and wind), irrigations, electric utility (distribution and transmission), oil and gas (refineries and production) and petrochemical. “Gulf Cable is exactly the kind of company we want to be located in the Industrial Park,” Santa Rosa County Commissioner Bob Cole said. “The company is expanding and hiring more people as they continue to grow. They are the perfect industry for Santa Rosa County.” Gulf Cable, which has been in Santa Rosa County since 2006, is a leading manufacturer of insulated, high-voltage cable that is shipped all over the country for use at solar and wind energy generation sites. With business already booming, Bate has estimated that by 2030 the renewable energy markets his company supports will be spending a total of $5 trillion worldwide. According to Shannon Ogletree, Executive Director, and Erica Grancagnolo, Associate Director of Santa Rosa County EDO, “Employment at this facility will increase by more than twenty additional people paying a salary of at least $41,000. This is 115 percent of the 2020 Santa Rosa County Average Wage. We anticipate that capital investment at the site will be approxi-
mately $3,000,000. That’s a big win for Santa Rosa County.” Gulf Cable last expanded its Milton operations in 2021 when it broke ground on a 160,000-squarefoot building close to an existing campus. At that time, Bate estimated their company would invest around $3 million and add 20 to 30 employees. “Gulf Cable has been in Santa Rosa County for a number of years now and thanks to the business climate here and the support we receive from the economic development office we are continuing to grow” Executive Vice President, WTEC Energy Innovation Kevin Bate said. Bates explained that the company has manufacturing facilities located across the South, but that this, and will continue to be, their largest. The the company has manufacturing facilities all across the South, however, this is and will continue to be their largest. In a statement he made at the groundbreaking, Commissioner Dave Piech said he was very proud of the work done by the Santa Rosa Economic Development Office. “When it comes to economic development, we can all be very confident that we have the best team
on the job,” Piech said. “This is the second major ground breaking we’ve attended in less than a year and I expect there are more to come. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for economic growth in our great county.”
Bate explained that Gulf Cable will also introduce a new product to the market within the coming year that is anticipated to create the need for minimum of an additional 200 new jobs at the facility.
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