ANDERSON— The Anderson City Council Thursday approved a $14 million tax abatement that could lead to the expansion of Nestlé USA’s production facility here.
But a decision by the company on whether it will invest $166 million here, or in another American city may not come for another month, said Nestlé USA spokeswoman Rachel Koelzer.
The final choice will be made by executives at Nestlé’s world headquarters in Switzerland.
Despite that uncertainty, the City Council voted quickly and enthusiastically for the abatement, which would be in effect for six years.
The Anderson facility produces 3 million to 4 million bottles of Nestlé Coffee-mate liquid, ready-to-drink Nesquik and BOOST nutritional drinks a day, according to company officials.
A new production line would be the company’s seventh in a factory designed to accommodate eight lines, and it would mean an additional 104 jobs at the factory.
Between 2006 and 2008, Nestlé built a $359 million plant in Anderson — Nestlé’s largest single capital investment in its history. In all, the company has invested $582 million here, Interim Economic Development Director Greg Winkler has said.
The plant currently employs 663, up from the original 300 jobs the company promised when it first located in Anderson.
As part of the negotiations between Nestlé and the city, the company has agreed to pay an abatement fee of $567,000 over the abatement period. The money would go to the Anderson Redevelopment Commission, which would use it to redevelop Edgewood Plaza, which was demolished recently.
The only objection to the abatement came from an Anderson man who criticized the company for hiring temporary workers.
Nestlé’s Anderson plant manager April Blackmore acknowledged that the company does occasionally hire temporary workers, but she said production work at the plant requires technical skills that rival those demanded by pharmaceutical maker Ely Lilly and Co.
“You would think putting Coffee-mate or Nesquik in a bottle is not complicated,” she said, but the health and safety requirements are demanding.
That’s one reason why Nestlé, Ivy Tech Community College and the city have agreed to develop training programs in Anderson to help more local people gain skills for the new jobs and other similar positions.
The City Council also approved two 10-year tax abatements for Precision Strip Inc., which is investing $7 million to expand its facility and operations as well as hire 10 more employees.
The company takes large coils of steel and slices them down for many clients including steel mills that then sell the pieces for use in vehicles and appliances. The abatements will save the company more than $1 million.
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