Franklin gets a jolt: Coffee company bringing jobs to shell building

A start-up company that roasts and grinds beans and makes ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee is coming to Franklin.

AMayZing Food & Beverage Group, based in Florida, is purchasing the incomplete shell building on Linville Way and will move into it and start production late next year, with plans to hire 150 workers in its first four years.

The company makes cold brew coffee and nitro lattes in ready-to-drink cans which are distributed to three major retailers and two convenience stores. The new production facility is needed because the company needs to make coffee under specific brands for new customers, owner Timothy May said.

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May said he chose Franklin with the help of site selection company Ginovus due to the city’s proximity to customers, the land and availability of the shell building, the quaintness of the community, the communication and experience of the mayor and the construction of Linville Way, a new road opening up 40 acres of industrial properties for development off Graham Road.

Mayor Steve Barnett is calling the news an exceptional business announcement for the city, and city board members are considering two tax abatements for the building and equipment, which is a $30.8 million investment in total. The city council and redevelopment commission will vote on the incentives early next week.

Barnett said he was hoping for this type of development, rather than the shell building attracting a distributor or warehouse. AMayZing Foods will help diversify the city’s employment base, he said.

The company will employ 50 people in its first year, then add 25 to 50 people each year until 150 people are employed by 2022, according to the company’s estimates. The average hourly wage is $20, not including benefits, which is higher than the county’s average wage, according to paperwork filed with the city.

During the course of the 10-year tax breaks, the company will pay an estimated $4.2 million in property taxes on the building and equipment, with another $1.1 million in taxes being forgiven. A 10-year tax break on equipment is rare, but Barnett recommended it as an appropriate incentive for the company.

Two other similar facilities are being planned for across the United States to meet customer demand.

The shell building on about 13 acres has been in the works since 2016 as a partnership between the city and Runnebohm Construction.

Construction was halted in recent months while the city was in negotiations regarding incentives for AMayZing Food.

The footprint of the shell building was 50,000 square feet, but AMayZing will immediately expand it to 100,000 square feet, including making it accessible for food-grade production. The original construction budget for an unfinished building was $2.8 million. With immediately expanding the building, and finishing the construction, the estimated cost is $10.8 million.

This is the city’s second shell building. The first was built in 2013 and is now home to Hetsco, a company that conducts routine and emergency maintenance and construction management and labor for power plants and industrial operations.

AMayZing Foods is new, but May has been working in the food and beverage industry for 37 years, including with businesses that use a cold brew process for making coffee. He knows the marketplace, and has commitments from companies to buy his product, so opening the facility is not based on marketplace speculation, he said.

AMayZing Foods is planning several projects to help the community, such as selling used coffee beans at cost to charities, which could then sell the beans as organic fertilizer to raise money for their organizations, May said.

The company may also create 12 jobs for people to recycle some of the 43,000 coffee-bean bags the company will receive each year into totes. The company also plans to set up a trust to pay for the school supplies, clothing, fees and any transportation costs for 50 local children each year, and establish 10 college scholarships, May said.

Of the total 150 eventual employees, an estimated 20 workers would be managers or have specialized skills and make an average of $31 per hour. The remaining 130 administrative office, sales or operators would make about $20 per hour, according to paperwork filed with the city.

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AMayZing Food & Beverage Group

Florida based cold-brew coffee and tea producer coming to Franklin

When: 2019

Where: Shell building partially constructed on Linville Way near Graham Road

Jobs: 150 employees hired in first four years at $20 average wage

Incentives: Tax breaks from the city of Franklin

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