Manufacturer of high-quality artwork expands headquarters in Pinellas County

Wendover Art Group expands facility

A local program helped Wendover Art Group expand its facility in Largo from 130,000 to nearly 200,000 square feet. FOX 13's Kailey Tracy reports.

LARGO, Fla. - There's a good chance the artwork you see the next time you stay in a hotel was manufactured in the Tampa Bay Area at Wendover Art Group. Now, the company has added 69,000 square feet to its headquarters, and doubled its manufacturing capacity. 

What we know:

"We're hiring and building local jobs, but servicing, you know, beyond the USA and North America and beyond those borders," Richard Forsyth, Wendover Art Group's CEO, said. 

Its work, including paintings, mirrors, lighting, textiles and more, is in buildings around the world, and they’re manufactured in a facility in the company’s Largo facility.

"Just the facility we're in, we can double the size of the company. We can double the growth of our existing businesses. So, that's obviously a big deal," Forsyth said.

The facility just expanded from 130,000 square feet to nearly 200,000 square feet. They held a ribbon cutting Friday with Pinellas County leaders.

"When you look at the total investment, this was a small investment that we did that can ensure high-paying jobs for our residents, which only improves quality of life," Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters said.

By the numbers:

The company used about $2 million from the Pinellas County’s Penny for Pinellas Employment Sites Program towards an $11.5 million investment total to help make the 69,000 square foot expansion possible.

"This program is one of the most important tools the county uses to ensure that our target industries, such as manufacturing, have the space and infrastructure they need to invest in our community and to expand for the jobs of today and tomorrow," Suzanne Christman, Division Director of Business Development, Pinellas County Economic Development, said.

The expansion included improvements like enhanced dock access, rear loading manufacturing space, a new stormwater system and a showroom.

"The Employment Sites Program is central to this expansion. The ESP uses Penny for Pinellas dollars to help with high growth valuable local companies like Wendover Art secure the space and infrastructure that they need to grow," Peters said.

"This is a great organization which started out small, which has grown exceptionally, and they're creating artisans," Peters said.

Right now, Wendover Art Group has about 300 employees.

Forsyth said not only does the expansion attract potential employees, but it also supports the company’s growth and ability to acquire other companies to add to its portfolio.

What they're saying:

"The impact is even hard to quantify," Forsyth said. "When you have this beautiful facility, and I do believe this is maybe the best place in the country to have a manufacturing facility and just to work in general, Pinellas County and the whole Tampa Bay region has become such a recruitment tool because there's so much to offer in this great place," he said.

Since the Employment Sites Program started in 2021, the Pinellas County Commission has approved $44.5 million to pay for 27 projects.