MOULTRIE – A Brazilian company is moving some of its operations to Moultrie, bringing an estimated 80 jobs and $1 million in investment, the Colquitt County Economic Development Authority announced Monday.

Forquímica, a developer of sustainable agricultural products, purchased a building at Spence Field in December. After renovations to the roughly 51,000-square-foot facility, the company will begin production, management, sales and marketing activities there.

The jobs will pay an average of $43,000 — about $10,000 more than the current average wage in the county — and the company has the potential to grow, said Greg Icard, interim president of the Moultrie-Colquitt County Development Authority.

“They’re a really good company,” Icard said. “They’re agribusiness — ag-related. They produce product that enhances (farmers’) product yield. They fit really nicely because we’re an agriculture county.”

Colquitt County is the most agriculturally diverse county Georgia, with agriculture being the biggest industry in the state.

Forquímica purchased the Hurst Building at Spence Field from the development authority at a cost of $600,000.

The price may have been a discount, but no other local or state incentives, such as property tax breaks, were required to land the project, Icard said. The authority did not pay taxes on the property while it owned it.

“They start paying taxes with the purchase,” he said. “(So) you’re adding jobs, you’re adding investment and you’re adding property on the tax rolls.”

Forquímica has participated in projects at the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition’s farm, also located at Spence Field.

“Agribusiness remains the top industry here in the (No. 1) state for business due in part to innovative companies like Forquímica,” Gov. Nathan Deal said in a Monday news release.

The company was founded in 1985 and has been in the agribusiness for more than 30 years, the governor’s office said.

In addition to its work at the Sunbelt Expo, the company has been working with farmers in the state for four years.

“After four years working alongside farmers in south Georgia, Forquímica is very excited to join and to be part of the Moultrie community as we start our crop nutrition manufacturing plant,” said Reginaldo Zandonade, manager for the Moultrie facility. “We are looking forward to growing together for many years to come.”

Two years ago at the Sunbelt Expo, the annual three-day farm show held in Moultrie, Forquímica applied treatments to peanut seeds as well as foliar fertilizer treatments. Last year it did the same with soybeans, said Expo Executive Director Chip Blalock.

“They have been great to work with,” he said. “We’re thrilled they’re making this investment.”