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Jacksonville, FL — A Florida-based company is looking to set up shop in Jacksonville and create up to 70 new jobs.

An Economic Development Agreement has been filed for consideration by the Jacksonville City Council, committing incentives to bring USA Quartz, LLC to the First Coast. The Agreement says the company intends to buy an idle former GE manufacturing building for $2 million and invest $5.6 million to renovate and add manufacturing equipment on site.

USA Quartz commits, under these terms, to creating 70 jobs with an average wage of $49,920 by the end of 2020. The new jobs would be various positions, including IT and Finance, according to the project summary. The jobs would be permanent, full-time equivalent- which means at least 35 hours per week, with the job being maintained for at least two years, according to the project summary.

As part of the agreement, the City of Jacksonville would be on the hook for up to $42,000, to be paid out over four years starting in 2019. This constitutes the local share under the Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund program, and amounts to $600 per job. The State would be responsible for up to $168,000, bringing the total public investment in this agreement to $210,000.

The incentives would be payable based on jobs created and verified by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

In addition to bringing jobs to the First Coast, USA Quartz says it would use JAXPORT for importing and exporting activities and add to the commercial tax base through their building renovations.

USA Quartz manufactures quartz slabs that are used for countertops. They do not currently have operations in Jacksonville, and the project paperwork says these incentives are a “material factor” in moving to Jacksonville over another southern port city.

The agreement is formally introduced to the Jacksonville City Council Tuesday, and could face a vote on December 12th.