The Springfield News-Sun is committed to covering jobs and the economy in Clark and Champaign counties. For this story, the paper spoke to local economic development officials and examined tax incentive review documents.
Companies in Clark County receiving local tax breaks are meeting their job creation and investment goals, officials said Tuesday.
Members of the Clark County Tax Incentive Review Committee met Tuesday morning and voted to keep all current agreements in place, said Tom Hale, Clark County community development director and enterprise zone manager.
The TIRC board reviews existing incentive agreements annually to ensure those firms are meeting their goals related to the number of employees retained or hired, as well as whether those firms have met their investment goals, Hale said.
Clark County, South Charleston and New Carlisle each have enterprise zones that provide real and personal property tax abatements to companies in return for local investments.
“There were no problems,” Hale said after the meeting. “All of our companies have done very well.”
The city of Springfield has its own separate tax incentive review committee, which is scheduled to meet in June, said Bryan Heck, deputy city manager for Springfield. Officials in Champaign County met in April and also voted to continue with existing incentive agreements.
TIRC members voted to continue existing agreements for the RD Holder Oil Company in New Carlisle, Yamada in South Charleston, as well as various other firms including Sutphen, Seepex Inc., and Woeber Mustard, Hale said.
Yamada was granted a 100 percent tax abatement for 15 years in 2012 for an expansion that was expected to create at least 57 jobs, according to TIRC documents. The company had already met that goal at the end of 2014, local officials said.
Yamada supplies oil pumps, water pumps, steering components and other parts for automakers like Honda. The company also had an earlier, 10-year enterprise zone agreement that is recently expired. That agreement called for 30 new jobs, but the company created 87 new positions, exceeding its goal, county documents show.
Overall, Yamada has seen significant growth in recent years and now has more than 700 employees, with about 90 percent working full-time said Marc Murray, vice president of Yamada North America Inc.
The auto industry is competitive, so the incentives are just one tool to help Yamada invest and supply the best service to automakers like Honda and Subaru, Murray said.
“We’re happy to be involved in the South Charleston community,’ Murray said.
Agreements approved Tuesday include:
• A 60 percent, 10-year enterprise zone agreement with RD Holder Oil Company to retain 21 jobs and create 8 new positions. Committee members said the company has created 7 new positions to date and is meeting its obligations.
• A 100 percent, 15-year enterprise zone agreement with Yamada North America Inc. to retain 309 jobs and create 57 new positions. The company has created 196 new positions, according to county documents.
• A 60 percent, 10-year enterprise zone agreement with MEVA Formwork Systems, Inc. to retain 13 jobs and create 12 new positions. The company has created 39 new positions so far, according to county documents.
• A 60 percent, 10-year agreement with Sutphen Corp. to retain 74 positions and create 30 new jobs. Committee members said the company is complying with the agreement.
• A 60 percent, 10-year agreement with Woeber Mustard Manufacturing Co. to create 15 new jobs. The company has created 16 jobs so far, according to county documents.
• A 100 percent, 10-year agreement with Seepex Inc. to retain 69 jobs and create 18 new positions. The company has created 26 new jobs, according to county documents.
• A 75 percent, 10-year agreement with Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers to create 20 new positions. The company is meeting its requirements.
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