Utah wooing 1,300 jobs – State is offering incentives to firm based in Midwest

Salt Lake County could land 1,300 high-paying jobs if a Midwest-based company acts on a state incentive that would put a Western manufacturing center in the county.

By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595098347,00.html

The Utah Board of Business and Economic Development on Thursday approved a $2.25 million incentive for the company to locate in the county. The company’s name was not revealed due to a confidentiality agreement with the state.

Board members said it is a manufacturing company that wants another factory to serve the West. Board member Ken Woolley said the plant would represent a $100 million capital project.

"This is a big thing for our state," he said. "We are competing with the state of New Mexico, and the state of New Mexico has actually more incentives than we do. But we think we have the ear of the division manager."

Woolley said the facility could not be in a rural area because its infrastructure needs are too great.

"If they do it as they plan, 1,300 jobs is one of the larger employers in the state of Utah," he said. "It would be a major, major thing for us. We’re excited about it. I feel bad that we have to keep it confidential, . . . but it is a division of a very large U.S. corporation."

The incentive offered by Utah calls for:

* $2,500 per new job with a salary that is 125 percent to 200 percent of the county median wage.

* $4,000 per new job with a salary paying 200 percent or more of the county median.

* $200,000 upon breaking ground for construction on the Utah facility.

* Up to $150,000 for pre-startup job training cost reimbursement occurring in Utah.

* Up to $706,000 for post-startup job training cost reimbursement occurring in Utah.

* Up to $375,000 for a job transfer program to facilitate the transfer of "corporate culture and values" to the Utah facility.

The company will get the money if it keeps its operations in Utah for at least five years.

The board on Thursday also approved a film-production rebate of up to $250,000 for Utah-based HaleStorm Entertainment for production of the movie "Mobsters and Mormons."

The approval was the fifth and final one for the $1 million film production demonstration incentive fund established earlier this year to boost film work in Utah.

Mark Renda, in charge of incentives for the Utah Department of Community and Economic Development, said the film will have a Utah-based storyline and that the production is expected to be eligible for only about $60,000 of the approved incentive.

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