Alico (company)

Alico Inc. is a agribusiness and land management company, based in Fort Myers, Florida. Alico is operating in the segments of citrus groves, improved farmland, ranch and conservation, and agricultural supply chain management.^[1] Another of Alico's prominent products is cattle. Its market cap in 2015 is $397.92M.^[2]

History

Alico, Inc., originally known as the Atlantic Land and Improvement Company, was founded in 1898 as a subsidiary of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and was the holding company for its real estate division.^[3] In February 1960, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (now part of CSX Transportation) spun-off the Atlantic Land and Improvement Company, which was then renamed Alico (an acronym for Atlantic Land and Improvement Company).

In 1961, Ben Hill Griffin, Jr. was named to the board of directors of Alico, Inc, which then became a publicly traded corporation engaged in citrus fruit, sugarcane and sod production, cattle ranching and forestry.^[4] Griffin acquired a majority of the outstanding stock of Alico in 1972, and became chairman of its board of directors in 1973.^[5]

Griffin, Jr. passed away in 1990 and was succeeded by his son Ben Hill Griffin III. Griffin III would go on to donate 760 acres of the company's land in South Fort Myers to the state for the construction of Florida Gulf Coast University. The road leading to the university and one of its academic halls are named for Griffin, and its basketball arena is named Alico Arena.^[6]

Lobbying

As of 2015, the company employed 14 lobbyists to work with Florida's legislative and executive branch, spending between $80,000 and $150,000 for lobbying efforts in the first quarter of 2014.^[7]

Water farming

Alico has allocated aboout 27% of their 122,000 acres for water farming.^[7]

References