Independence incentives could lure Tyson subsidiary

Posted on Sep 29, 2009 by orlanlove.

The former Tyson plant in Independence is shown in this March 2006 file photo.

The Independence City Council on Monday night approved nearly $800,000 in incentives that could sway a subsidiary of Tyson Foods to reopen the company’s unoccupied plant on the city’s northwest side.

The council approved an application for aid from the state’s value-added agriculture product financial assistance program for Provemex International Holdings. The application includes a 10-year tax increment financing package valued at $96,000.

The council also approved allowing the company to use its own well rather than city water, which would yield an estimated $698,000 in savings for the company over 10 years, according to City Clerk Debra Lynn.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said Provemex, a Tyson subsidiary not currently in use, is studying ways the company could use the Independence plant, which was closed in 2006 along with a plant in Oelwein, putting nearly 400 employees out of work.

“For competitive reasons,” Mickelson said he would not comment on specific uses for the plant or if it involves the manufacture of pet food, as local rumors have asserted.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed” that the company chooses Independence, said City Council member Bob Hill, who noted that at least two other sites are under consideration.

Selection of the Independence site could mean 150 new jobs when the plant is fully operational, Hill said.

Hill said the city would provide property tax relief that would kick in only when the plant is in production. “We don’t have much upfront risk,” he said.

Hill said city officials are not at liberty to discuss the proposed use of the plant. “We have been told it is a completely new product line for the company,” he said.

City officials have also been told, he said, that the process involves no cooking or boiling and that scrubbers would be installed to cleanse any exhaust vented from the plant.

The company hopes to have its plant — whether in Independence or elsewhere — up and running by the first of the year, according to Hill.

David Nacht, who lives within a block of the plant, said he is convinced the company intends to make pet food.

Nacht said he bases his assertion on conversations with company officials and Tyson’s recent purchase of a minority interest in New Jersey-based FreshPet, a maker of fresh, refrigerated dog food and treats.

Recent activity at the plant is part of the company’s analysis of the maintenance and machinery needed to go forward, Mickelson said.

He said the company hopes to have more specific information at the completion of its analysis “in several weeks.”