Jacksonville an d NORTHEAST FLORIDA
Ocean Pond, a 1,760-acre natural lake
within the Osceola National Forest
14 JACKSONVILLE AND NORTHEAST FLORIDA SPONSORED SECTION
St. Mary’s River
BAKER
10
Macclenny
Glen
St. Mary
Okefenokee
National
Wildlife
Refuge
Osceola
National
Forest
Olustee
Battlefield
Baker County
Kevin Donohoe started his timber framing business
in Ireland but in search of more business, he
relocated to Northeast Florida and found a site for his
company, KD Walls, in Baker County.
Baker is a relatively small county with a labor force
of about 11,000. But Darryl Register, executive director
of Baker’s economic development commission, says
those workers were an ideal fit for KD, which expects
to employ about 100.
“We have a great blue-collar workforce here that can
fill those jobs,” says Register.
Besides the workforce, the county is ideally located
off of I-10 and close to I-95 and I-75, making it easy to
reach customers in every direction.
“It gave us everything we need from a logistics point
of view,” says Adam Goode, KD’s director of operations.
“It was literally a no brainer.”
KD, which provides pre-manufactured wall and
floor panel services, fits in with several of Baker’s key
industries: manufacturing, logistics and distribution
and logging and timber.
Donohoe says Baker County reminds him of Ireland,
because of its open spaces. KD Walls bought a vacant
industrial building that’s bigger than he needs right
now, but that will give him room to grow.
“It’s better to grow into a place than grow out of
place,” he says.
Register hopes the county’s efforts to recruit KD will
help attract more companies.
“It gives a signal of what the Board of County Commissioners
will do to attract new jobs and industries to
Baker County,” he says.
Population 28,042
Labor Force 11,393
Total Households 8,995
Choosing Baker County a “No Brainer”
Per Capita Income $24,109
Retail Spending $175.2 mil.
Baker County offers the
advantages of a small-town
atmosphere and big-city
convenience.
Walmart logistics center in Macclenny
TERESANNE COSSETTA RUSSELL (MAP)