Fort Pierce backs 'Project Knight Rider' — proposed armored‑vehicle maker promises 294 jobs

The City Commission on Feb. 18 approved a resolution expressing preliminary support for 'Project Knight Rider,' a proposed US manufacturing operation by the Incas Group that would rehabilitate an existing ~59,000‑square‑foot industrial building and add roughly 20,000–30,000 square feet of new space at the Enterprise Road site.

Economic development staff and the St. Lucie Economic Development Council presented the project, describing planned capital investment of roughly $18.75 million for building improvements and another $19.4 million in manufacturing equipment over five years, and a commitment to create 294 jobs at an average annual wage just over $53,000. The company said it expects a mix of federal, law‑enforcement and civilian sales and pledged to seek local hires; the EDC and commissioners discussed potential pipeline connections with Indian River State College and workforce‑readiness programs.

The commission approved a nonbinding resolution of support (Resolution 25‑R‑15) that allows the project to advance through the county/city incentive and compliance process; any ad valorem tax exemption would be adopted later by ordinance and conditioned on compliance with job and investment benchmarks. The county had approved a similar preliminary resolution earlier in the day.

Next steps: company to apply formally for exemption by the statutory deadline; if the company applies, the city will evaluate and, if appropriate, present an ordinance authorizing the incentive with annual performance monitoring.