801-388-1925
801-745-0203
|
Local Economy
Procter & Gamble to build facility in Tremonton area
By Lesley Mitchell
The Salt Lake Tribune
Just one week after the state of Utah offered Procter & Gamble an $85 million incentive package, the multinational corporation said it has decided to invest about $300 million to build a manufacturing facility in the Tremonton area that could employ as many as 1,000 workers within 20 years.
Work on the facility in Box Elder County is set to begin early next year and is scheduled for completion in late 2009 or early 2010.
The facility, which would be part of the company's Family Care division, would start out with about 300 workers, who would produce Bounty paper towel and Charmin toilet paper products. Production of Puffs tissue products could be added later on, said Celeste Kuta, spokeswoman for P&G's Family Care division.
Procter & Gamble will pay its Utah workers an average of $42,000, yearly or about twice the median wage for Box Elder County, according to documents the company filed with the state. That figure does not include company benefits, which include health coverage, retirement and other items, a state official said.
The incentive of up to $85 million, the largest ever offered by the state, is payable to Procter & Gamble in the form of a rebate of corporate income, payroll and sales taxes paid in Utah over two decades.
Jason Perry, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development, said what makes this deal especially notable is that the Box Elder County plant be the first new Procter & Gamble Family Care manufacturing facility in the U.S. since 1973. "To have such a worldwide company select Utah for such a huge investment is a big deal," Perry said.
Procter & Gamble is one of the world's largest corporations, with annual revenue of more than $76 billion and approximately 138,000 employees in 80 countries.
Perry said an ample supply of quality workers, favorable operating costs compared with other states and easy access to rail, freeways and a major international airport were all draws.
Procter & Gamble's Kuta said the company could have expanded one of the Family Care division's five manufacturing facilities in Missouri, California, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia. It also could have built a facility in any number of other states.
But Susan Thackeray, who works to recruit companies to Box Elder County, said she's glad the company selected northern Utah instead. She said Procter & Gamble's announcement will have a major effect on communities such as Tremonton and Brigham City.
Many people - especially young adults - are forced to move to larger cities to find good-paying work, she said.
"With jobs like these, we'll be able to keep more of our kids here," she said. "This is a really quality company."
lesley@sltrib.com
Procter & Gamble accepts incentive
The new Procter & Gamble Family Care manufacturing facility will be built in the Tremonton area in Box Elder County. It is expected to be completed by early 2010
What will be made? Bounty paper towel and Charmin toilet paper products will be produced initially, with Puffs tissues a possibility later
New jobs created. P&G will hire about 300 workers when the facility is completed. Could reach 700 employees in 10 years. Projected to total about 1,000 by 2028
What will they pay? Average pay will be $42,000 annually, twice the Box Elder County median
|
