St. Lucie County is adding a manufacturing line you don't see every day: armored vehicles. INKAS, a Toronto-based global conglomerate, is opening its first U.S. manufacturing facility right here, in Fort Pierce.
The site is a former tomato-packing facility on Enterprise Road, which INKAS plans to renovate — keeping the existing 59,332-square-foot building and adding another 20,000 to 30,000 square feet of new space. Old agricultural infrastructure getting a second life as advanced manufacturing is a fitting image for where the county is headed.
The investment figures are significant: INKAS plans to put in roughly $38 million and hire 294 people over five years, at about 107% of the county's average wage. That includes around $19.4 million in equipment alone.
What will they actually build? Armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, plus outfitting regular vehicles to withstand explosions — for both private clients and military markets. Managing Partner Eugene Gerstein put the mission bluntly: 'We know that we make a difference. We save lives every day.'
Local government has thrown its weight behind the deal. In February 2026, the St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners and the Fort Pierce City Commission approved incentive packages that phase in property tax exemptions — 100% for the first five years, then stepping down over the following five.
There's a workforce angle, too. The state has invested in Indian River State College's Center of Ballistics and Emerging Technology, which helps train the kind of specialized workers a plant like this needs. That's the county trying to build a talent pipeline, not just land a single employer.
For the 772, INKAS fits a clear pattern: St. Lucie County is diversifying beyond logistics and homebuilding into specialized, higher-wage manufacturing. As the EDC's Wes McCurry has noted, every plant like this widens the local economy's base — and makes the Treasure Coast harder to ignore.