Grillo’s Pickels is seeking an additional tax abatement for a facility that the Massachusetts-based company is building near I-65 in Taylorsville, citing unforeseen costs.
The commissioners approved the statement of benefits in a 2-0 vote on Monday. Commissioner Larry Kleinhenz did not attend the meeting.
The passage of the statement of benefits is the first step in a two-step process, officials said. Next, the Bartholomew County Council is expected the tax abatement during its meeting on July 14.
The company said in its statement of benefits that it had identified the need for an additional $12 million investment in personal property at the Taylorsville facility, brining the total capital investment of the project to $66 million. That includes $26 million personal property investment and $40 million real property investment
“As that process unfolded over the last six months or so, we realized that the initial $14 million in personal property wasn’t going to be enough,” Grillo’s Pickles CEO Adam Kaufman said during the commissioner’s meeting on Monday. “The cost of machines and what not, the capabilities, technical aspects of what we wanted to put in that facility actually just grew in cost. So, that’s why we’re asking for the additional $12 (million).”
Grillo’s announced in June it had officially broken ground on a new 155,000-square-foot production facility that was initially estimated to cost $54 million. The new Taylorsville facility in northern Bartholomew County is next to a previously announced $175 million 300,000-square-foot King’s Hawaiian bakery. Both companies are subsidiaries of Irresistible Food Group.
In addition to the local incentives, based on the company’s investment and job creation plans, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. committed an investment of up to $1.4 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired.
Last June, Bartholomew County officials approved the company’s request for an additional 10-year property tax phase-in on the new Grillo’s Pickles building and equipment, estimated to produce savings of about $1.2 million.
Outside of the tax abatement, the company has applied for a $1 million READI 2.0 grant from Indiana’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative and a $2.3 million CAMPO Transportation Improvement Program grant.
Bartholomew County Commissioners Tony London said during the meeting that county officials are unsure if they will get the READI 2.0 or CAMPO funding.
“We don’t know if we’re going to get those dollars,” London said. “They were initially approved, but since the administration changed at the state level, those things have slowed to a halt.”
In addition to the local incentives, based on the company’s investment and job creation plans, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. committed an investment of up to $1.4 million in the form of incentive-based tax credits. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning the company is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired.
Currently, construction of the Grillo’s Pickles facility is on schedule and is expected to be completed late this year or early next year, with operations expected to start shortly after, according to company officials.
Kaufman said he expects to have 75 employees by early next year before reaching 150 by sometime in 2027, with wages between $20 and $30 per hour.
Grillo’s Pickles was founded by Travis Grillo in 2008 with a pickle cart on Boston Common in central Boston, according to the company’s website.
Grillo’s Pickles uses a century-old family recipe and contain no artificial perservatives, and are packed, shipped and sold refrigerated, according to company officials.
