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According to the Manufacturer’s Association of Central Florida
(MACF), Metro Orlando is home to about 2,200 manufacturing
companies, most of which employ between 50 to 100 people. In
addition to vigorous mid-sized manufacturers that help diversify
the economy and provide higher-paying jobs, the region claims such
high-profile companies as Mitsubishi Power Systems, Inc., HD
Supply, G&T Conveyor, Mercury Marine and Constar International
Inc.
Plastics is Metro Orlando’s most commonly manufactured product.
The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) ranks Florida in
the top 10 states, with facilities for processing a wide variety of
plastics fabrication. SPI reports that 139 manufacturing facilities
(not including machinery and moldmaking operations) are based in
the region. These operations account for almost 4,000 jobs and
generates nearly $900 million in shipments.
The manufacturing sector is also ideally poised for major
growth. According to Real Estate Research Consultants Inc., Metro
Orlando has approximately 70 million square feet of total
industrial space, including warehouse and distribution space. The
region boasts more than 60 business parks, most of which offer
platted sites and in-place utilities.
Major distributors already in Metro Orlando include
DaimlerChrysler Corp., and Kraft Foods Nabisco Division. Built in
2002, DaimlerChrysler’s parts and distribution center is a $19.6
million, 485,000-square-foot facility located at Airport
International Park of Orlando (AIPO) — a 1,350-acre master planned
commercial mixed use park that is the third largest of its kind in
the Central Florida area, with more than 3.5 million square feet of
buildings constructed. AIPO also houses the distribution center for
Kraft Foods Nabisco Division.
Not only is Metro Orlando an important distribution point of
goods for corporations based elsewhere, it is also a major hub for
HD Supply, a leading wholesale distribution company, providing a
broad range of products and services to professional customers in
the Infrastructure & Energy, Maintenance, Repair &
Improvement and Specialty Construction markets. Through a diverse
portfolio of 10 market leading businesses, four of which are based
in Orlando, HD Supply distributes 600,000 products through 900
branches in 45 states and nine Canadian provinces.
Other major distributors include American Hotel Register, Behr
Processing, Lowe’s, McLane Foodservice Inc., Walgreens and
Whirlpool Corporation.
For more information on leading Metro Orlando companies in this
sector, please visit their Web sites by clicking on the links
below, or, visit
Company Profiles to read brief synopses of each company.
Accord Industries
Constar
International Inc.
HD
Supply
G&T
Conveyor Company, Inc.
McLane
Company
Mitsubishi Power
Systems, Inc.
Vac-Tron
Equipment
Wiginton
Corporation
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