SEYMOUR — Two Seymour companies — a biblically-based gift products manufacturer and a diesel engine maker — have announced investments.
The Seymour Common Council approved statements of benefits Monday from Dicksons Inc. (one personal property) and Templeton Commercial Properties LLC (one real estate improvement), the real estate arm of Dicksons’ parent company.
Templeton applied for a 10-year tax abatement on new investment of $3,464,100 for construction of a 58,575-square-foot expansion to its building at 2025 First Ave. in the Freeman Field Industrial Park.
Dicksons received a 10-year tax abatement on the purchase of $408,500 in new logistics equipment to use in its facility at 708 B Ave. East in the same industrial park.
The council also approved statements of benefits (two real estate improvement and three personal property) for Cummins Inc. for different projects within the company’s Seymour Engine Plant along East Fourth Street Road.
The real estate improvements total $4.2 million and $100,000, while the three personal property investments are $6,465,219, $5,838,768 and $718,054.
Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., spoke on behalf of the companies and said the investments will not result in any new jobs.
Dicksons will retain its current workforce of 68 on a payroll of $2,849,000, and Cummins will retain its workforce of 881 with a payroll of more than $78 million.
Seth Davidson, the council’s industrial development committee chairman, introduced the statements of benefits and resolutions for the tax abatements for the companies. They all were approved 6-0 with Councilman Chad Hubbard absent.
A tax abatement occurs over a 10-year period in which companies pay 10% more on taxes each consecutive year. Companies do not pay any property taxes on the improvements in the first year of a tax abatement.
The cost of the expansion of one of Dicksons’ buildings includes a pre-engineered steel building and site work, while the manufacturing equipment will include a pallet rack ($350,000), a powered pallet jack ($18,500), a cherry picker ($31,500) and a pallet wrapper ($8,500).
The estimated start date of the expansion is March 1 with an estimated completion date of Jan. 1, 2025, while the logistics equipment purchases will start around Aug. 1 and be completed by the end of the year.
For Cummins, the real estate improvements will allow for expansion and facility improvements to its Seymour campus and capacity expansion of the Hedgehog line.
The personal property investments include manufacturing equipment for Project GZ04, expansion of the Seymour Technical Center with machinery, test cells and facilities and machinery and equipment for the expansion of the Hedgehog line.
These projects, totaling $17,322,041, are expected to start in May and be done by the end of the year.
Plump also reported on Cummins’ compliance with statement of benefits for 15 personal property and 11 real property investments.
The total amount of personal property investment on the abatements over the last 10 years was $103,861,335, and the total for real property was $53,236,080.
The initial projections were 433 employees and $33.7 million in payroll, but both numbers have nearly or more than doubled.
Copyright © 2024 The Tribune