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Liquor Distributor To Expand Operations

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By MICHAEL SASSO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2007

TAMPA - A Miramar-based liquor distributor plans to add as many as 550 employees and build a shopping-mall-sized warehouse facility in south Hillsborough County as part of a massive local expansion.

Premier Beverage Co. of Florida recently closed on the purchase of 249 acres near Madison Avenue and U.S. 41, just west of the Progress Village community. From there, it plans a 575,000-square-foot warehouse in its first phase, followed by two more phases that may bring it to 1.5 million square feet, said Keith Poliakoff, an attorney for the company. The company will move out of its leased facility near Riverview.

The company still is seeking permits from Hillsborough County and the Southwest Florida Water Management District, but might start clearing land as early as February, said Gregg Lipp, Premier's vice president of operations. The warehouse will distribute wine and spirits throughout the Tampa Bay area, and from Naples in the south to Marion County in the north.

"This will be the main Premier operation in the state of Florida," Lipp said Thursday.

It's unclear how many jobs the warehouse will employ in the long run. That's because Premier is hoping to win lines of wine and liquor from competitors, including its chief rival, Miami-based Southern Wine & Spirits of America. If it wins those lines, it will ramp up its sales force, Lipp said.

However, it also plans to increase staff in Hillsborough County by consolidating some of its other operations around Florida and by building its share of the local wine and spirits market.

Premier Beverage employs 143 people at Riverview warehouse. In a letter to Hillsborough County's economic development department, Poliakoff said Premier will add 297 employees within the first 12 months of opening, bringing its total to 440.

Over the next two years, it may add 250 employees at the facility, bringing the total to 690, Poliakoff said. That will include a mix of sales people and warehouse employees.

To keep the company from relocating out of Hillsborough County, the county's economic development department agreed to pay up to $221,950 to cover the company's transportation and water and wastewater impact fees, said Bruce Register, the agency's corporate business development manager. To qualify for that money, the company must create at least 193 jobs with an average salary of $43,721, Register said.

Premier Beverage distributes wine and spirits to retailers and restaurants. Among its product lines in the Tampa market are Jack Daniels, Bacardi and Kendall-Jackson wines.

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at msasso@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7865.

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