By DANIEL SUDDEATH
Daniel.Suddeath@newsandtribune.com
NEW ALBANY —
The New Albany Redevelopment Commission is proposing to help keep a local industry’s employees cool in order to create more jobs in the area.
This week, the board submitted a plan to dedicate up to $150,000 toward the installation of an air conditioning unit at TG Missouri Corp. — which is located at 5331 Foundation Blvd.
The company is headquartered in Perryville, Mo. and also has a location in Kentucky.
Speaking on behalf of TG Missouri, Kathleen Crowley of the area Chamber of Commerce group One Southern Indiana said the industry is looking to expand and the New Albany outfit is competing against the Kentucky and Missouri locations.
The spot that gets the expansion will see a potential $3 million investment including $2.6 million in new equipment along with 30 jobs, she said.
All the locations are offering tax abatements and other typical incentives, Crowley said. But Deputy Mayor Carl Malysz came up with an idea that is innovative and could tip the scales in New Albany’s favor, she said.
TG Missouri is pleased with the work force in New Albany, but the hot conditions this summer slowed production in the local plant, she said.
The company is looking at an expense of $250,000 to $300,000 to install air conditioning, and Malysz came up with a proposal for the redevelopment commission to agree to pay $150,000 of that cost, she said.
“No one else is doing anything like that — no one else is thinking outside the box,” Crowley said.
The deal would hinge on TG Missouri picking New Albany for its expansion, and the company would add 30 jobs by 2011 as a result.
“This is going to be a quick ramp-up,” Crowley said.
The employees would be hired-in at $13.12 an hour, and would make $14.24 an hour by 2015, Crowley said.
The company currently employs 70 people.
“TG Missouri is a company that the redevelopment commission is very familiar with,” Malysz said.
The body used tax-increment financing, or TIF, to foot infrastructure upgrades to entice TG Missouri to come to New Albany, Malysz said.
He added that Mayor Doug England has already submitted a letter along with the state’s commitment to provide tax abatements for the company if it expands in New Albany.
The commission could call on TIF to fund the air conditioning purchase and installation, but would first have to extend one of its existing districts to include TG Missouri.
With multiple public hearings and votes required to reshape a TIF district, City Councilwoman and commission member Diane McCartin-Benedetti said she may propose the city use Economic Development Income Tax, or EDIT, funds to cover the expense.
Irving Joshua, president of the commission, said if it comes from redevelopment coffers he would prefer there be a set policy for such an investment so future companies asking for help can be treated fairly.
“I would prefer it be a percentage type of thing,” Joshua said. “We have to have some kind of justification.”
With Benedetti needing time to discuss using EDIT with her fellow council members, the commission voted to start the process of including TG Missouri in a TIF district.
It also agreed to the proposed tax abatements, as Malysz said he will have firm criteria in place for the commission to vote on at its next meeting regarding the formula for aiding TG Missouri.
That will include funding 50 percent of the air conditioning expense up to $150,000.
Joshua said that will provide a template when other businesses request financial aid.
