The Mosaic Company Opens New Desoto County Office

ARCADIA, Fla., Dec.18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees from The Mosaic Company today joined DeSoto County community leaders at a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of Mosaic's new office.  Housed in the newly restored historic Hollingsworth house overlooking Oak Street and the County Administration building in downtown Arcadia, the office will serve as the company's base of operations in DeSoto County. 

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121218/CG31640) 

"Today, Mosaic officially put roots down in DeSoto County and the company looks forward to a bright future with our neighbors in Arcadia," said Martha Monfried, Mosaic's Vice President of Public Affairs.  "We appreciate the warm welcome we've received from the citizens of DeSoto County and are proud that Mosaic was able to restore one of the historic homes that helps give Arcadia its unique character."

Located at the corner of Oak and Hillsborough in the Arcadia Historic District, the restored house will provide office space for Mosaic's DeSoto-based community relations and permitting staff members.  Mosaic is renovating a second building behind the Hollingsworth House to serve as a community room to host the company's DeSoto County Citizens Advisory Panel meetings and other community events. 

"We're delighted that Mosaic is making this commitment to DeSoto County and we welcome them to our community," said Debby Snyder, Executive Director of the DeSoto County Chamber of Commerce.  "Our county has long aimed to expand our economic base and Mosaic represents a great opportunity for the county to bring back an old, but vastly improved industry and economic driver." 

Since its formation in 2004, Mosaic has owned more than 18,000 acres of future phosphate mine land in DeSoto County.  Within the next 10 years, the company is poised to invest more than $1 billion in construction and infrastructure costs to develop a world class phosphate mine in the county, which will eventually provide nearly half of the company's Florida phosphate rock production.  The facility is expected to employ approximately 400 full time employees with wages and benefits averaging significantly higher than the currently reported average median income in DeSoto County.  The mine will also provide employment for hundreds of full time contractors.  And, according to a recent study, economic activity resulting from the mine's operation will produce thousands of induced jobs in DeSoto County and beyond.   

About The Mosaic CompanyThe Mosaic Company is the world's leading producer of potash and phosphate crop nutrients. American farmers rely on Florida phosphate for nearly half of their annual crop nutrition requirements.  Phosphate is a natural product for which there is no man-made substitute, making Florida's phosphate reserves of strategic importance to critical sectors of the state and national economy, including farming, manufacturing, shipping, trucking and rail.  Mosaic employs more than 3,000 Central Florida residents, and tens of thousands of Floridians work in other jobs dependent upon the industry.  The company utilizes state-of-the-art environmental technologies to recycle more than 95 percent of its water and return land that it uses to its natural beauty, or into parks, playgrounds and community amenities.  For more information on Mosaic's presence in DeSoto County, go to www.mosaicinDeSoto.com

SOURCE The Mosaic Company

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