Tobacco company Swisher has reached an agreement with nonprofit community group Lift Jax to reserve 60 jobs for residents of the historic Eastside as part of its $135 million Jacksonville manufacturing expansion.
Lift Jax announced the deal Thursday in a news release that says 25% of the 240 full-time jobs will go to people living within a 2-mile radius of Swisher’s Jacksonville campus in Springfield. That includes the Eastside neighborhoods of Oakland, Campbell’s Addition, Phoenix and Long Branch.
The job commitment comes six months after the City Council approved a $3.5 million property tax refund for Swisher’s investment — at the time known as codenamed Project Newark — that the tobacco company will receive over five years…