Posted on Thu, Jul. 10, 2008 State's sugar deal puts town's fate in limbo BY JANE BUSSEY Miami Herald Fearing a bitter future when United States Sugar Corp. leaves the town that sugar built, people here are rallying around their mayor's call for a role in negotiating the company's controversial exit. ''We should have a seat at the table to help out in the decision-making,'' Mayor Mali Chamness insisted in the face of news that U.S. Sugar would sell its holdings to Florida water managers and leave the business in six years as part of an ambitious Everglades restoration project. Chamness' rallying call drew applause from the 300 farmers, business owners and residents who packed John Boy Auditorium this month for an emergency meeting about the area's future. So intertwined with U.S. Sugar is this community of 6,500's economy that the June 24 announcement of the sale to the South Florida Water Management District was met with shock and disbelief. U.S. Sugar employs 1,700 people, provides 25 percent of Clewiston's tax base and is responsible for more than half of its economy. The company has been a generous partner, too -- donating land for libraries and other buildings and providing college scholarships for employees' offspring. Now Clewiston must wrestle with a future without U.S. Sugar. As part of the $1.75 billion deal, the company will sell 187,000 acres of agricultural land, its citrus processing plant, its sugar refinery and mill, two railroads and other facilities. Speaking at the start of the two-hour emergency meeting, Carol Wehle, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, tried to assure the crowd that agriculture will remain on acreage not needed for pollution-filtering reservoirs and marshes intended to restore the Everglades. ''It is everyone's intention and a commitment to keep the remaining agriculture in a sustainable format,'' Wehle said, adding that the district plans to sell the sugar refinery and mill on the south side of Clewiston and the citrus processing plant about 15 miles to the west. ''There is a tremendous amount of interest for people to purchase a lot of those facilities,'' she said. ``You are going to receive a lot of attention.'' But it is difficult to sugarcoat U.S. Sugar's departure. Ardis Hammock of Frierson Farms, a second-generation sugarcane farmer along with her husband Alan, said her first thought when she heard about the sale was ``you've got to be kidding.'' Her second thought was the plan is linked to the Florida governor's vice presidential aspirations: ``For Charlie Crist, it's VP, VP, VP.'' By the time of the emergency meeting, Hammock was angry and distrustful of pledges to help with economic development. ''It's fine to stand here and say you are going to do it,'' Hammock said. ``But where's the money? Where is the money?'' IMPACT ANALYSIS During the emergency meeting, Hendry County commissioners and elected officials from Clewiston and Labelle voted to hire an attorney and commission an economic impact analysis. They also insisted on a state-backed economic transition and support plan to protect the area's future. There have been efforts to recruit new companies to this town on the shore of Lake Okeechobee and boost eco-tourism. There's also been talk about building an inland port in the nearby town of South Bay. Still, Miller Couse, chairman and chief executive of First Bank in Clewiston, isn't optimistic. He pointed to the fate of Detroit and other Michigan cities as the steel and automobile industries declined. ''It's nice to say we can go out and reinvent ourselves, but the practicality of it is, I think, zero,'' Couse said. For three years, he explained, community officials have been courting companies for a newly developed business park, offering numerous incentives. They will consider themselves lucky if they attract two new enterprises offering 150 jobs. The uncertainty is already affecting business. ''We've seen one commercial deal, about a $700,000 deal, fall apart in Clewiston simply because of the announcement,'' Couse said. The U.S. Sugar sale has been hailed as one of the largest conservation purchases in American history. But for the people of Hendry County, the critical part will be keeping their communities afloat economically while reclaiming the land for the environment. Clewiston has been a company town for nearly 80 years, meticulously designed with wide streets and spacious parks by renowned town planner John Nolen in 1920. No one expected rapid change. Not only is U.S. Sugar the largest business, it is also the largest landowner. Community leaders fear the sale will tie up access to U.S. sugar property for years. ''Pahokee has been landlocked by U.S. Sugar for many, many years,'' said Wayne Whitaker, mayor of Pahokee on the eastern edge of Lake Okeechobee. ``We need some of that land so we can grow.'' Many locals said U.S. Sugar had started to withdraw from the community before the announcement, curtailing perks such as its college scholarship program as it struggled with global competition. ''U.S. Sugar used to do business with me. They do very little business in town anymore,'' said Mitchell Thomas, owner of Corbin Farm and Ranch Supply in Clewiston. ``Most of the executives don't live in Clewiston.'' U.S. Sugar also has been pitted against state environmentalists in a long battle over Everglades and Lake Okeechobee pollution. But some in Clewiston trace the beginning of the end of the company town era to the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, the first of many trade pacts that opened the U.S. sugar market to widening import quotas. At the same time, sugar prices have remained almost unchanged for 20 years. To compete, U.S. Sugar slashed its workforce, once more than 3,000, nearly in half. LAYOFFS Then in 2005, the company embarked on its ''Breakthrough'' project -- an effort to consolidate and automate its sugar-making by building a state-of-the-art processing mill on the southern edge of Clewiston, alongside the modern sugar refinery. ''When they started this Breakthrough project, they had told us they were going to cut to make us lean and mean,'' said Butch Wilson, who was laid off by U.S. Sugar last October after almost 32 years and is now director of the Clewiston Museum. U.S. Sugar senior vice president Robert Coker said the community was lucky to have six years to prepare for the change since many industries shut down virtually overnight. ''Agriculture has a future in South Florida,'' he said. ``I just don't know what it's going to look like. I don't think anyone else does either.'' That isn't particularly reassuring for local growers. Robert Hammock, 25, moved back to Clewiston six months ago to work on the family farm with his parents, Ardis and Alan. ''My place is here. It's where I want to be,'' he said. ``Now I don't know if there's going to be a local mill in town where we can sell our cane to make a living.''