BOCC July 14, 2025 Meeting - Item #16 - 🏢 Project Safety: A Manufacturing Deal With Teeth (and Clawbacks)

Welcome to Wakulla’s latest starring role in a high-stakes economic development drama, where $13.5 million in grant funds meets a 118,000 sq. ft. promise—and the fine print could write its own novella.

Item 16 on the July 14 agenda invites the Board to approve a grant award agreement from Triumph Gulf Coast, Inc. for Project Safety—a proposal to bring Point Blank Enterprises, Inc. to Opportunity Park via a custom-built, County-owned manufacturing facility. The deal promises 300 jobs. The County will own the land and building. But this isn’t just “build it and they will come.” It’s “build it, they’ll come, and hopefully don’t leave before December 31, 2036.”

Let’s unpack it.

💰 The Big Money Breakdown

• Triumph Gulf Coast Grant: $13,500,000

• Matching Funds Required: $7,295,000

  • $4.5M from a Rural Infrastructure Grant (already secured)

  • $3.5M expected from a Florida Job Growth Grant (pending)

• Total Project Cost: $20,795,000

• County’s Role:

• Buy ~20 acres in Opportunity Park

• Oversee construction of the facility

• Lease it to Point Blank for at least 10 years

Important: No Triumph dollars will flow until:

• The lease is executed

• Matching funds are locked in

• Construction begins (and ends on time)

📜 What’s in the Agreement?

This grant award reads like it was drafted by a team of lawyers on a caffeine bender. And maybe it was.

Here are the highlights:

• Construction Deadline: December 31, 2026

  • If missed, Triumph can terminate the agreement

• Completion Deadline (Everything): December 31, 2036

• Lease Requirement: At least 10 years, facility reverts to County if terminated early

• Job Creation Metrics:

• 300 net new jobs must be created by the earlier of 5 years post-construction or by December 31, 2032

• These jobs must be maintained for 3 years after that

• Must meet wage thresholds (115% of Wakulla's 2022 average wage)

🧨 The Clawback Clause

If Point Blank misses the job targets?

The company owes Triumph $45,000 per job shortfall—plus attorney fees and 3% interest.

Example:

• They create only 225 jobs

• Shortfall = 75 jobs

• They owe $3.375 million, not including interest

And Wakulla County?

• Pays 50% of Triumph’s attorney fees to chase that clawback

• Must cooperate in enforcement

• Has no control over how aggressively Triumph pursues repayment

📦 What’s the Risk?

This isn’t just a grant—it’s a multi-agency financing puzzle tied to promises that stretch out over a decade.

Risks include:

• Construction delays

• Failure to meet job targets

• Lease terms that aren’t airtight

• Future sale of public assets without public discussion

• Potential clawbacks that could cost the County attorney fees and political bruises

😏 Wakulla Reports Takeaway

Economic development is important. Job creation is vital. But when a County signs on as landlord, financier, enforcer, and partial legal underwriter—the public deserves to understand the stakes.

Project Safety may be a path to prosperity. Or a long lease on complexity. Either way, it’s not just a grant. It’s a commitment with hooks.

So if you support it—good. But if you want safeguards, ask about:

• Exit strategy

• Oversight after lease ends

• Transparency in future ownership

• Legal protections for Wakulla taxpayers

Because $13.5 million doesn’t just build a facility—it builds expectations.