Massive new manufacturing facility opens in St. Pete

The latest Pinellas County Employment Sites Program (ESP) success story is a nearly 48,000-square-foot manufacturing facility along the 22^nd Avenue North corridor in St. Petersburg.

Local officials celebrated the over $11.6 million building opening Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The massive campus will also serve as Agora Edge’s new headquarters.

The St. Petersburg-based company designs and manufactures soft goods, from electronic device cases to military-grade exoskeletons. County Commission Chair Kathleen Peters noted Pinellas is one of the few counties in Florida that can boast more than tourism.

“I’m very proud to say we have the third-largest manufacturing employee base in the state,” Peters said. “It’s truly an economic driver that we can count on.”

The 48,000-square-foot facility has infrastructure in place for an additional 32,000 square feet. Image: Pinellas County Economic Development.

Agora was established in 1985 and now employs over 350 people. The company’s clients include several Fortune 500 companies, such as 3M, Honeywell and FedEx.

Agora applied for ESP funding in 2022 to help facilitate its local expansion, and Penny for Pinellas tax coffers provided $1.72 million. The new facility sits on 5.4 acres at 2000 29^th St. N.

Dr. Cynthia Johnson, director of Pinellas County Economic Development, said the company now operates from nine locations. Those include its former headquarters at 2101 28^th St. N. and an office in Taiwan.

Johnson called Agora a “cornerstone” of the city and county’s lucrative manufacturing industry. She noted the ESP initiative has won international awards as a “class A, state-of-the-art way to redevelop facilities.”

“This milestone is not just for Agora – it’s for the entire community,” Johson said. “The new facility really symbolizes much more than just concrete walls and the roof. It represents the culmination of hard work, perseverance and a collaborative spirit that defines what Pinellas County is all about.”

The expansion allowed Agora to create 50 new local jobs. There is also infrastructure for an additional 32,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Founder and president of Subash Dave’ said he would soon expand operations to the building’s 80,000-square-foot capacity. He also hopes to have 200 people working from the facility “over time.”

Agora typically serves the medical, fire and industrial safety, mobile computing and data collection industries. Dave’ attributed his success to putting employees and customers above maximizing profits.

He also frequently mentioned the 1969 Moon landing and how the seminal event provided a lifelong inspiration to attempt the seemingly impossible. Dave’ immigrated from India in 1970 and said accomplishments “are supposed to be hard.”

“If it was easy, everybody would do it,” he continued. “Hard is what makes it great.”

Agora Edge manufactures exoskeleton devices used in military, industrial and healthcare applications.

Dave’ said the company’s vertical integration and focus on quality and innovation has fueled its growth. “Our goal is to keep up with advancements in intelligent, wearable soft goods.”

Tyler Grossman, industrial design lead for Agora, highlighted an upper-body exoskeleton for industrial and medical applications. The pneumatic-powered device assists people with mobility issues and those with jobs that require continuous lifting.

“We have been in the full military ones,” Grossman said. “We have lower-body, upper-body and full-body systems that we’ve worked on.”

Peters noted the “visionary” ESP initiative has provided $36.8 million for 26 projects since it launched in 2021. The funding has resulted in nearly 1.6 million square feet of new office and industrial space and over $251 million in private-sector investments.

Peters said the program’s success helps highlight Pinellas County’s “ideal” business climate. Johnson pledged that officials would support local companies “not just in times of growth, but in times of challenge.”

Dave’ shared their sentiment. “Pinellas County is a great place to live and work,” he said. “I love it. We are proud to tell our customers and suppliers that Agora is located in St. Petersburg.

Subash Dave’ (third from left), founder of Agora Edge, hopes to eventually employ 200 people at the facility.