The City Council of Kirksville, Missouri, has reportedly approved a $229 million offer to entice Kraft Heinz to expand an existing plant and bring the job count over 500.
“This is a huge project for the community and it has taken efforts of a lot of different people, it has taken a lot of hours to put this together,” Mari Macomber, City Manager, said during the meeting, according to the Kirksville Daily Express.
The expansion’s timeline would be an aggressive one, according to Macomber, with Kraft Heinz looking to have the facility up and running by October of 2016. “This is a very quick project,” she added.
The $229 million will be in a financing deal from the City Council to Kraft Heinz in the form tax breaks. The city’s ownership of the property the facility is on allows it to eliminate property taxes, with Council approval, for the company for a 10-year period.
In lieu of taxes, Kraft Heinz would pay the local taxing districts about 50 percent of the revenues that would be generated from the expansion project. The tax abatement period would begin in 2017, according to the city documents, and end in 2026.
Overall, the expansion will allow for an additional 69 jobs in the area, bringing the total to 532 from that facility alone.
While the deal is as good as done, according to Kirksville Daily Express, it is not yet official as the city awaits Kraft’s signature, expected around mid-January. Kirksville Bond Counsel Toni Stegeman stated while it is expected to go through, Kraft Heinz is seeking Chapter 100 Bonds, which will be used to pay for new construction and equipment at the facility.
The expansion will mean a larger Missouri footprint for Kraft Heinz, as well as upwards of 475 full-time jobs until the end of the abatement period.
