LactaLogics, a mission-driven company dedicated to bringing more human milk to babies, is opening its headquarters and processing facility in Port St. Lucie.
“Although breast milk is vital to the health of premature infants, most rely on cow’s milk-based formula for nutrition due to the lack of access to human milk. To address this need, LactaLogics plans to collect excess milk from qualified donor moms across the United States and then gently process the milk to meet the unique needs of premature infants,” said LactaLogics co-founder Chelly Snow.
“The goal is to make more human milk available to hospital NICUs (neonatal intensive care units) and parents across the country. Families will finally have better access to human milk-based products, helping to improve the health of newborns while supporting moms who struggle with breastfeeding,” Snow said.
With multiple patents filed, the company has tested and refined its systems and will build its facility at the former Liberty Medical building at 8883 U.S. Highway 1. Significant capital and equipment investments, extensive renovations and upgrades are planned for the 60,000-square-foot building. The company plans to hire an additional 60 full-time workers at 107% of St. Lucie County’s average wage.
“Port St. Lucie is the ideal home for us because it offers critical infrastructure and a desired workforce,” said Snow. “We’re excited to build a high-tech manufacturing facility, bringing more jobs to the Treasure Coast.”
“It’s an excellent project. It’s definitely something that is very different than we are used to seeing. It’s going to serve a great need, not only in our community but probably around the entire country,” said Port St. Lucie Mayor Shannon Martin during the March 27 city council meeting. “It’s very exciting to see development happening on the east side. I think, coupled with what’s going to come forward with our master plan with City Center, it’s going to really boost the entire area.”
“We always talk about local businesses and local citizens having the opportunity to bring their business to Port St. Lucie. The owners of LactaLogics are residents of Councilwoman Morgan’s district,” said Port St. Lucie Vice Mayor Jolien Caraballo. “It’s wonderful to know we are going to have a new business utilizing an old space that’s needed to be filled for a while, providing jobs and, more importantly, economic impact to the eastern side of the city.”
“The Economic Development Council has been working with LactaLogics, as Project Gala, for more than a year and we are proud to have the headquarters and processing facilities for a company with such a compelling mission located here in Port St. Lucie,” said Pete Tesch, president of the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County. “The opening of LactaLogics also adds to our community’s growing life sciences sector, joining Cleveland Clinic’s Florida Research and Innovation Center and Florida International University’s Center for Translational Science.”
The incentive package for LactaLogics will include expedited site plan and permitting; ad valorem tax exemptions for tangible personal property only at 100% for the first five years, then at 90%, 80%, 60%, 40% and 20% for the next five years; mobility and impact fee mitigation and an opportunity for a Job Growth Investment Grant.