The first five months of 2017 have been very productive for local economic development. The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce has been able to assist four local companies grow in St. Joseph, adding more than 200 jobs, $10 million in new payroll and $85 million of capital investment into the local economy.
“It has been a very busy spring,” said R. Patt Lilly, President and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “We’ve been able to announce four expansion projects, we’re working on several others and anticipate another announcement this month.”
Lilly said the reason for the expansions is due to an uptick in the economy and is a signal of the local companies’ abilities to continue to grow in their respective markets.
“Many of our local businesses continue to benefit from the expanding local and global market growth,” Lilly said. “The result is in the addition of employees and investment in local facilities.”
The four announced projects include:
St. Joseph Petroleum – St. Joseph Petroleum expanded its distribution of oil lubricants for the food industry with the construction of additional square footage and the creation of three new jobs. Total capital investment was $110,000. The average annual wage of the three new jobs was $43,333. The project qualified for the Missouri Works program and the local Enhanced Enterprise Zone program on the real property improvements.
Triumph Foods – Triumph Foods is expanding its ham boning line through a capital investment of $1.5 million with new machinery and equipment. The capital investment will lead to the creation of 72 jobs with an average annual wage of $35,000. The project was eligible for the Missouri Works program.
Altec Industries, Inc. – Altec is investing a significant amount of capital in personal property improvements, manufacturing and nonmanufacturing machinery and equipment, as well as real property improvements. The investment will increase the efficiencies and improve quality through advanced manufacturing processes at the main campus and at leased facilities in St. Joseph. The project is expected to create a minimum of 105 new jobs over a three-year period. To encourage the investment in St. Joseph, various local incentives were offered including real property tax abatement under the Enhanced Enterprise Zone program and personal property tax abatement under the State of Missouri Chapter 100 program. The State of Missouri also provided incentives under the Missouri Works program.
Johnson Controls – Johnson Controls will do a significant expansion of almost $36 million to expand production of a new product line that was currently in proto-type production, due to the growing demand for Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) batteries. The expansion is a result of increased popularity of start-stop vehicles and increasing power needs. The project will create an estimated 51 new, full-time manufacturing jobs with an annual average wage of $48,000, plus benefits. The City will assist the expansion with the use of Chapter 100 for personal property tax abatement and enhanced enterprise zone tax abatement on the real estate improvement.
These projects all were made possible with assistance of the City of St. Joseph and Buchanan County.
“Without the public/private partnership between our local governments and the business community, we would not be able have this kind of success in St. Joseph,” Lilly said.
