A factory producing military boots and tactical footwear will begin operations in Lares, projecting up to 300 full-time jobs over the next three years, while a second facility in San Sebastián will be used for raw material handling. The PR Footwear project will receive up to $2,425,134 in government incentives. PR Footwear is a subsidiary of Belleville Boot Company, a U.S. maker of boots for the U.S. Armed Forces, and these will be the company’s first manufacturing operations in Puerto Rico.
The company will occupy two Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) properties in Lares totaling 71,238.76 square feet, plus two lots totaling 1,434 square meters. In San Sebastián it will have a 23,862.24-square-foot industrial building for raw material handling. Across both municipalities, the company will lease 95,101 square feet for a combined annual rent of roughly $260,282.31, under a 10-year contract with preferential renewal options.
Of the incentives granted by the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC), up to $750,000 are tied to creating a maximum of 300 full-time jobs within three years of operations starting. DDEC Secretary Carlos Ríos Pierluisi said Puerto Rico’s manufacturing capacity and accumulated knowledge retain strategic value as the textile, uniform and defense-market equipment industry shows growth capacity.
Governor Jenniffer Aydin González Colón said Puerto Rico has a long history of making uniforms and military products.