Two start-up companies, one a sales firm and the other a wood products manufacturer with plans to reopen the shuttered Stanley Tool Plant in Pittsfield, have been authorized to earn up to $230,094 in Vermont Employment Growth Incentives. The one firm would re-start the former Stanley Tool plant in Pittsfield.
The companies, if they grow in or locate in Vermont, could create 41 new jobs over the next five years, according to officials with the Vermont Economic Progress Council, which authorized the incentives late last week.
The Original Vermont Wood Products, Inc. was authorized to earn incentives totaling $100,604. The start-up company plans to re-start production at the former Stanley Tool plant in Pittsfield and bring most of the Stanley employees back to work.
They would lease the plant and equipment and make wood component parts for other customers. They also plan a new line of custom post caps, trellises, pergolas and wood sheds.
The Stanley Plant closed in 2008, bringing unemployment in Pittsfield to one of the highest levels in the state. The area also has low average income levels and the plant is the only production facility in the area and is a major source of property tax revenue for the town.
These factors allowed the Council to consider an enhanced level of incentives for the project under state law.
The Council took into consideration the economic condition of the region and the impact of the Stanley plant closing on the residents of Pittsford and authorized the maximum allowable level of incentives, said Karen Marshall, VEPC Chairwoman. We elected to support this start-up to the fullest extent possible because of the potential benefit to area residents, which would also reduce the demand on state and local public assistance programs.
The company hopes to start hiring immediately and begin production this summer.
We are very grateful for this early vote of confidence from the Vermont Economic Progress Council, said Gary Springfield, president of The Original Vermont Wood Products, Inc. We are hoping to re-open the former Stanley plant as soon as possible and put local residents back to work there producing high quality wood products.
A new company that would be established in Vermont by entrepreneurs Chris Foran and Gregory Dunne was given initial authorization to earn up to $129,490. The new company would provide inside sales services to their existing company, Mansfield Sales Partners, Inc. of Woburn, Massachusetts, and other existing and new clients.
Mansfield Sales partners, Inc. is a sales consulting firm that helps small and medium size companies increase revenue by building up their sales pipeline, penetrating new markets, and opening new territories.
The new company would provide lead generation services to the senior sales consultants at Mansfield and provide similar services for other clients. They plan to lease a facility in Chittenden County and begin operations in late 2010.
We are excited to be working with the state of Vermont on this start-up project as a part of our overall growth plans, said Chris Foran, President of Mansfield Sales Partners. Locating the business in Chittenden County will provide us with access to a high quality work force for these new positions and is a great area to locate this new business.
Under reforms proposed by Governor Jim Douglas in 2006 and passed by the General Assembly, the VEGI economic incentives are authorized based on potential job creation and capital investments that must occur before the company earns the incentives and then the company receives incentive installments over a period of years.
The companies are eligible to earn the job creation incentives only if they meet and maintain payroll, employment and capital investment targets each year. Overall, these projects could create 41 new full-time jobs and $1.4 million in new payroll over five years.
The Council approved the applications after reviewing nine program guidelines and applying a rigorous cost-benefit analysis which showed that because of the economic activity that will be generated by these projects, even after payment of the incentives the State will realize a minimum net increase in tax revenues of $68,000.
The Council also determined that these projects would not occur or would occur in a significantly different and less desirable manner if not for the incentives being authorized, the but for test.
The Vermont Economic Progress Council is an independent board consisting of nine Vermont citizens appointed by the governor, and two members appointed by the House of Representatives and the Senate, that considers applications to the state s economic incentive programs.
The Council is attached to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, whose mission is to help Vermonters improve their quality of life and build strong communities.
For more information, visit:
http://economicdevelopment.vermont.gov/Programs/VEPC/tabid/124/Default.aspx
Source: Commerce Agency. 6.1.2010