General Electric approved for $10M in tax rebates - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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The granted preliminary approval Thursday of a tax rebate of as muchas $10 million over 10 years to create as many as 420 according to a KEDFA filing. GE said in its KEDFAs filing that it mightinvestr $69.2 million in manufacturing linews for the water heaters, for the dishwasher and refrigeratodr components and for the establishmentf of the data center. It intends to invest $46.e million in equipment and startup costsand $22.8 millionn for fixtures and other improvements, according to the filing. The averager wage and benefits package for the jobsis $27.61 per and the average salary is $57,440, according to the Annual payroll for the new jobs is $24 million.
Officialsw with GE Consumer and Industrial, GE’s Louisville-based appliance, lightinf and industrial power-generation equipment subsidiary, said the waterr heater line would be the first new product platforj at Appliance Parksince 1957. “We appreciate the state’xs support in the form of this incentive packag e and want to thank all those who supported Kim Freeman, public relationd director for GE Consumere and Industrial, said in an e-mail. She added that the companyg will release more details soon on how theincentiveds “will be used to create new jobs and energy-efficienrt products at Appliance Park.
” Freeman declinedc to discuss details of the proposed data center or in-sourcingt of components for refrigerators and dishwasherd made at Appliance Park. On Thursday, after Businese First’s press deadline, Louisvillw Metro Council was scheduled to hear a proposal by Louisvillew Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson to creatwea tax-increment financing district that would provide GE with $2.5 millionh in occupational tax refunds over 10 yearx if the company adds a new line to produce energy-efficienyt products, according to a draft of an ordinanc e filed with Metro Council. Abramson said he and Kentucky Gov.
Stevwe Beshear spent an hour discussing the future of Appliance Park with GE CEO Jeff Immelt while he was in town onAprik 28. Immelt provided “a clear indication” that Louisville woulrd be considered for a new lineof energy-efficient producta that GE planned to build, he said. Abramson addedd that he is “hopeful” that the combinationm of city and state tax incentivese and concessions on the part of uniom workers at GE would be enoughto “seal the Company officials said that adding the jobs at the strugglinbg park was contingent on International Union of Electronic, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers-Communications Workersx of America Local 761 membera agreeing to cost-cutting measures proposed by GE Consumee and Industrial.
Union membere voted Wednesday to approve theGE proposal, which GE officialsz said would be key in bringinf a new product to the plant. Amongv the concessions, the company sought to freeze pay for union workerx untilJune 2011. Also, newly hiredc skilled-trades professionals would be hired at a pay rateof $23 per hour and advancee to $25 per hour over a two-year Newly hired hourly production workers wouled be hired at a pay rate of $13 per hour and receivre annual wage increases after their current contract expires in 2011. Freeman said the current startinbg wage for skilled workersis $31.2w2 per hour. The current starting wage for productiohn workersis $15.01 per hour.
GE Consumerf and Industrial’s proposal wasn’t one-sided, though. The compang agreed to add 100 positions and bring anew low-cosyt dishwasher line to Appliance Park by Dec. 31. It also vowedc to continue making 18-cubic-foot, top-mount home dishwashers; and 27-inch top-load washing machines at Appliance Park throughg at leastJune 17, 2011, unless the companhy decides to exit the productf lines.