TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Unemployment sits at about five and a half percent in the Tallahassee area according to the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While many businesses took a hit from the pandemic, one site in Innovation Park is actually growing. They’re rebounding from the economic crisis while keeping hundreds of workers safe in the process.
“2020 was really a challenging year,” explained Ricardo Schneider, the president at Danfoss Turbocor Compressors Inc. in Tallahassee.
Schneider said as the virus shut down manufacturing around the world last spring, parts for their innovative air conditioning products became hard to find.
“Despite all the challenges, we ended the year with growth,” Schneider added.
That growth is fueled by the need for cooling equipment at medical facilities and data centers around the world; however, it is adding a new challenge of keeping up with demand while keeping their employees safe.
“Very early on, we did implement mask-wearing and social distancing and washing hands frequently,” shared Christina Casey, the Senior Human Resources Manager at Danfoss in Tallahassee. “A lot of our employees had to transition to working from home."
Since the beginning of the pandemic, they’ve quarantined more than 200 employees to prevent any potential spread of the virus.
“We are extremely proud that within our facility, we don’t have a single case of spread of COVID,” said Sonjoy Goswami, the Director of Operations at Danfoss in Tallahassee.
While he and the COVID task force work to keep current employees healthy, they’ve got their sights set on a new expansion.
“This is a big deal for the Tallahassee economy,” Cristina Paredes added. She is director of the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality. “We’re estimating about $140 million economic impact for this project,” she continued.
Danfoss is building on 16 acres of land in Innovation Park. The project is expected to create 239 jobs in manufacturing, research and development over the next four years.
