- March 27, 2024
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Executives with Feld Entertainment, the company behind one of the most notable economic development projects in Manatee County over the last decade, are all about 20/20 vision.
So much so that Casey Rodgers, a vice president of finance at Feld, says the company has two 20-year strategy plans. One for the next 20 years, and another for the 20 years after that. “We are the kind of company that thinks very long-term,” says Rodgers.
That's a big reason why Feld, building a $20 million production headquarters in Ellenton, on the north edge of the Manatee River in northeastern Manatee County, has been so successful. The firm's shows, produced in 70 countries, include Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney on Ice and Monster Jam. Executives decline to discuss revenues, though a 2010 Washington Post story estimated that figure at around $900 million. (See Business Observer, Jan. 11.)
Rodgers, one of the top locally based Feld executives, gave an update on the company's massive project at a recent Manatee Tiger Bay Club luncheon. The company is renovating two buildings that total nearly 600,000 square feet on 47 acres. The project is backed by $3.3 million in Florida and Manatee County performance-based incentives. Feld, which will keep a corporate headquarters in Vienna, Va., plans to hire 235 employees over the next four years. It also plans to move another 200 or so employees from Virginia to the Manatee County facility.
The firm, moreover, does more than long-term planning in Manatee County, Rodgers says. Performers recently rehearsed a Disney on Ice show, and the office space has been upgraded to Class A. Employees have been working in the facility for about eight months.
Feld also works with several local colleges, including USF Sarasota-Manatee and Ringling College of Art and Design, to recruit employees and interns, says Rodgers. The company is hiring in small doses right now, but Rodgers expects the pace to accelerate in the next year or two.
Rodgers, finally, addressed a question from a Tiger Bay member a little outside the realm of economic development. The question: What does the company do with all the piles upon piles of dirt it transports to circuses, monster truck jams and other events when it becomes too muddy?
The answer: The company has “dirt engineers” who constantly search for new uses. Says Rodgers: “We treat everything we have as an asset.”