General Electric approved for $10M in tax rebates - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

grihanovveimavox.blogspot.com
The granted preliminary approval Thursday of a tax rebate of as muchas $10 million over 10 yearz to create as many as 420 jobs, according to a KEDFAw filing. GE said in its KEDFA filintg that it mightinvest $69.w2 million in manufacturing lines for the watere heaters, for the dishwasher and refrigerator components and for the establishmentg of the data center. It intends to invesrt $46.4 million in equipment and startup costsand $22.8 million for fixtures and other according to the The average wage and benefitsd package for the jobs is $27.61 per and the average salary is according to the filing.
Annual payroll for the new jobsis $24 Officials with GE Consumer and Industrial, GE’es Louisville-based appliance, lighting and industriaol power-generation equipment subsidiary, said the water heater line wouldf be the first new product platfork at Appliance Park since 1957. “We appreciate the state’w support in the form of this incentive packagew and want to thank all thoswe whosupported it,” Kim Freeman, public relation director for GE Consumed and Industrial, said in an e-mail.
She added that the companu will release more details soon on how theincentives “wil be used to create new jobs and energy-efficient products at Appliance Freeman declined to discuses details of the proposed data center or in-sourcing of componentsw for refrigerators and dishwashers made at Appliancse Park. On Thursday, after Business First’s preses deadline, Louisville Metro Council was scheduled to hear a proposaol by Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramsonm to createa tax-increment financing district that woulde provide GE with $2.
5 million in occupationa tax refunds over 10 years if the companyt adds a new line to produce energy-efficientr products, according to a draftr of an ordinance filed with Metro Abramson said he and Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear spentr an hour discussing the future of Appliancd Park with GE CEO Jeff Immel while he was in town onApril 28. Immeltr provided “a clear indication” that Louisvill would be considered for a new lineof energy-efficient productw that GE planned to build, he Abramson added that he is that the combination of city and state tax incentives and concessionsx on the part of uniom workers at GE would be enough to “sealk the deal.
” Company officials said that addin the jobs at the struggling park was contingent on Internationao Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communicationz Workers of America Local 761 members agreeingh to cost-cutting measures proposed by GE Consume and Industrial. Union members voted Wednesday to approve theGE proposal, which GE officialxs said would be key in bringing a new productr to the plant. Among the concessions, the company soughtf to freeze pay for union workers untilJune 2011. newly hired skilled-trades professionals would be hirer at a pay rateof $23 per hour and advancre to $25 per hour over a two-year period.
Newly hired hourly production workers would be hired at a pay rateof $13 per hour and receivs annual wage increases after theie current contract expires in 2011. Freeman said the currenty starting wage for skilled workerwis $31.22 per hour. The current starting wage for productiom workersis $15.01 per hour. GE Consumedr and Industrial’s proposal wasn’t one-sided, The company agreed to add 100 positionsd and bring anew low-costr dishwasher line to Appliance Park by Dec. 31.
It also vowex to continue making 18-cubic-foot, top-mount refrigerators; home dishwashers; and 27-inch top-load washinyg machines at Appliance Park through at leastJune 17, unless the company decides to exit the producr lines.