Friday, October 14, 2011

Utah offers incentives to lure hundreds of new jobs


The state of Utah on Thursday approved an incentive of as much as $3.2 million for Lifetime Products Inc., which plans to add 282 jobs in Davis County in the coming years. The company, which already has 1,700 employees in Clearfield, accepted the state’s incentive offer immediately after it was approved by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development Board, which reviews incentive applications and is made up of business people and community leaders. State officials said the average wage of the new jobs is about $41,800 annually, including benefits. The company anticipates adding about 40 people a year over the next two decades.
The economic development board also improved an incentive of as much as $2.2 million for SAIC, a Fortune 500 technology company that also already has a presence in Utah and has plans to expand. As with Lifetime, SAIC company officials said they accept the state’s incentive offer. The company said it plans to add nearly 300 new full-time technology positions over the next 10 years and make a $10 million capital investment in an expansion in Salt Lake, Davis or Utah county. Average wage for the new jobs at SAIC is about $52,000 annually, including benefits, state officials said. Salt Lake Tribune
A third incentive of as much as $522,000 was approved for The Home Depot, which said it plans to open a customer service center in Ogden to handle calls. The company accepted Utah’s incentive offer, payable over 10 years in the form of a tax credit. A spokeswoman said a facility in Ogden will handle inbound customer-service calls and employ nearly 700 people, 600 of which are expected to be hired by fall of next year. Hiring for those positions will begin in August 2012. Only 181 jobs out of the nearly 700 being added by The Home Depot meet the income threshold set by the state for companies receiving incentive money. The incentive money is based on those 181 positions, which average about $41,000 annually, including benefits, the state said.