PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — When this year's Census numbers are complete, there's a good chance Port St. Lucie will eclipse 200,000 people, keeping it the biggest city in our viewing area and the seventh largest in Florida.
Tamco Group unveiled its brand new manufacturing hub Tuesday in the Tradition Center for Commerce.
“To see it come together, the warehouse full of inventory. The factory full of machinery. The people living in the space, it’s really a special experience," said CEO of City Electric Supply Thomas Hartland-Mackie.
The company consolidated its six locations under one roof.
"We’ve had a great experience with our team and it’s taken us to a $100 million revenue business this year, so it’s a great place to call home," said Hartland-Mackie.
The $38 million, 411,000 square-foot facility will add another 50 jobs to the 220 already working here.
“To the manufacturing industry, this is really critical to economic prosperity," said Pete Tesch, the President of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County.
The TAMCO building is part of the Southern Grove development -- 1,220 acres of Port St. Lucie that the mayor hopes will become a new downtown.
Mayor Greg Oravec sees TAMCO as an anchor in the city’s jobs corridor.
“This is really a special piece of property. We have 4 miles of property along I-95 where Central Florida connects with South Florida," said Oravec.
Go anywhere on the west side of the city and it's hard not to see the growth. City figures show the number of building permits on the rise from 32,000 in 2017 to over 41,000 last year.
"We are in one of those special moments in time where all right ingredients are coming together in right proportion at right time and you have to appreciate it," added the mayor.
For a city that took it on the chin with several failed economic ventures during the Great Recession, the mayor says right now, the sky’s the limit.