By DAVE SCHULTZ, Huntington Herald-Press Associate Editor
The state has offered $1 million in tax credits and $14,000 in training grants to NuFuels, which is considering locating an ethanol and biodiesel production facility in Huntington.
The Fort Wayne-based company applied to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., apparently based on an initial phase of the project, IEDC spokesman Weston Sedgwick said this morning.
Last year, NuFuels presented the IEDC with a a $26.7 million project proposal to create 18 new jobs, said Sedgwick, who added that the IEDC negotiated the tax credits and the training grants with the company
Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman reported on the incentives at Friday afternoon's dedication of the Markle downtown improvements. The figures she cited were incorrectly reported in Sunday's Herald-Press as $18 million in state incentives for NuFuels.
"That is a $26.7 million investment by the investors," Skillman said late Tuesday afternoon.
Sedgwick said the IEDC used two types of tax credits with NuFuels - EDGE, for Economic Development for a Growing Economy, and HBI, for Hoosier Business Initiative. EDGE deals with creating new jobs, while HBI requires re-investment into the company.
"You will be able to claim these tax credits if and only if you show you have qualified for them," Sedgwick said, explaining how the credits work. "The IEDC has approached these deals in a businesslike manner."
He said a cost-benefit analysis is done and the IEDC considers its support for a project based on the benefits to Indiana's taxpayers and the desire to support the project.