Gazette staff - Jul 14, 2022
JANESVILLE
A global manufacturer of food and pharmaceutical equipment plans to build an 85,000-square-foot equipment repair facility on city land on Janesville’s east side.
The Janesville City Council provided a tax-incentive deal that includes a job creation reimbursement of $300,000 and the transfer for $1 of 16 acres of city-owned business park land at 3901 Enterprise Drive to the U.S. division of German-based manufacturer GEA Mechanical Equipment.
City of Janesville Economic Development Director Jimsi Kuborn said GEA plans to build an 85,000-square-foot building it would use as an equipment repair facility.
The company, which employs 18,000 people worldwide, is a major producer of equipment and systems used in the food and drink and pharmaceutical industries, including dairy equipment.
Kuborn said the city of Janesville is under a confidentiality agreement with GEA. She said the city hasn’t been told exactly what types of equipment the facility would focus on.
Under the TIF deal, GEA would get a gift of shovel-ready industrial park land plus an annual disbursement of about $433 per year for each full-time employee if the company creates and maintains 74 “living-wage” jobs at the planned Janesville facility.
GEA operates in 64 countries and had considered locating its new facility in “several” other U.S. states before ultimately agreeing to locate here.
All told, Kuborn said the city’s tax-incentive deal would produce a “guaranteed” $8.5 million increase in property value, along with a $200,000 annual increase in the city’s tax windfall during the life of the tax-incentive deal.
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