Columbus has approved tax abatements that play a significant role in a company’s choice to locate its Midwestern headquarters here.
The Columbus City Council approved a resolution offering property tax abatements for Heritage Distributing Company Inc. doing business as Ninth Avenue Foods, which plans to locate its new Midwest headquarters east of Columbus’s Woodside Industrial Park.
Assistant Director of Community Development Robin Hilber said that Ninth Avenue Food’s decision was contingent on receiving a 10-year tax abatement for $32 million in real property investment and $70 million in personal property investment for equipment.
For real property, the abatement will save North Avenue Foods approximately $4 million in taxes over the period, but they’ll also contribute about $4.1 million to property taxes in Bartholomew County. For the personal property, the company will save approximately $3.7 million in taxes but will contribute about $2.5 million over the same 10-year period.
Hilber said that the headquarters will include a production, processing, storage and distribution facility.
“We’re excited that Columbus is going to be able to expand our economic base and expand their location here,” she said. “This location will actually handle all of the production that takes place for the distribution east of the Mississippi.”
Construction of the plant is expected to begin this summer.
Ninth Avenue Foods wrote in its incentive application that it plans to create a “cutting edge beverage production facility” that specializes in processing, production, cold storage and distribution for dairy and dairy alternative beverages.
Hilber wrote in a memorandum that as a result of this project, 101 new permanent jobs will be created by 2024 with an expected average wage of $21.27 per hour before fringe benefits.
Vice President of Operations Joe Lunzer stated in a letter to city officials that the project will also “support dozens of local construction jobs during the buildout.”
“It’s nearly certain that all of the dairy sourced from this plant will be from the Indiana dairy industry,” Lunzer told city council members.
Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. President Jason Hester said that the project represents a diversification of our local economy.
“We’re very strong in certain industries,” he said. “Ninth Avenue Foods coming to the community builds on our manufacturing strengths, but at the same time, brings diversity.”
The company also wrote in its application that there are environmental benefits to adding the new facility, such as production of some beverages that do not need to be refrigerated, “providing a greener alternative to conventional refrigerated storage and transportation.”
“It will reduce the carbon emissions created by reducing the shipping distance to locations east of the Mississippi,” the company statement said.
Lunzer thanked city officials for the “generous incentive package” and said he looks forward to working with them for many years.
“We are excited at the prospect of locating this facility in Columbus,” he said. “It’s been a long search for the right location for us. Four states, we’ve probably looked at 50 sites. And Columbus really stood out to us.”
