ELLENTON -- Feld Entertainment will be moving into a new production facility just a few miles down the road from its long-time home in Palmetto, bringing 235 new jobs along for the ride.
The live show producer is expanding into a new 47-acre campus in Ellenton that will house 100,000 square feet of office space and 450,000 square feet of manufacturing in two buildings along U.S. 301, the company announced late Monday.
Feld Entertainment, which produces the Ringling Bros. Circus and Disney on Ice, also plans to incrementally relocate its global headquarters from Vienna, Va., to the new facility in Ellenton over the next five years.
The company will receive almost $3.8 million in government incentives for the move.
“Everyone at Feld Entertainment is excited about the new facility,” Feld spokesman Stephen Payne, reached by phone late Monday at company headquarters, told the Herald. “It’s going to allow us to grow as a company in the future.”
Feld Entertainment produces live shows ranging from Ringling and Barnum & Bailey, to Disney Live!, Monster Jam and other motor sports events.
The company will preserve its 148 existing employees and is projected to add 235 new high-skill, high-wage jobs over the next five years, according to Manatee Economic Development Corp.
“The jobs will be salaried and hourly,” Payne said. “We will be consolidating from our other facilities around the country to centralize the staff and get the best possible people from Manatee County and the surrounding areas.”
Payne said some positions also will be brought down from other facilities, but those decisions have yet to be finalized.
The company’s new Ellenton production facility will open the door to growth that couldn’t be accommodated at its existing location, officials said.
For the past two decades, Feld Entertainment has maintained a campus in Palmetto, occupying four acres on the industrial end of 17th Street East. It’s where the costumes, sets, lighting and sound for the company’s tours and productions are created.
The new facility will house many of the same functions, as well as the company’s circus train maintenance.
Rehearsals for Feld shows will continue at their current locations, although the new facility also will allow for the creation of some local rehearsal space in the future.
The site, located at 2001 North U.S. 301, was originally developed by The Siemens Corp. and most recently occupied by General Electric, records show.
Feld Entertainment garnered a number of local and state incentives totaling $3.78 million, based on the jobs created.
Those incentives include $1.17 million from the state’s Qualified Targeted Industry fund, $650,000 from the Quick Action Closing Fund, and $1.5 million from Manatee County.
“There were some customized incentives for this project,” Manatee EDC President and CEO Sharon Hillstrom said Monday. “Everybody just realized what a tremendous impact it will have on the county.”
