4/21/14 Millersburg business to consolidate in Holmes County under Enterprise Zone agreement

  • By Nick Sabo
  • April 21, 2014
  • 385
                        
SUMMARY: Coblentz Distributing to build 39,000 square feet facility A dried-meat snack manufacturer whose business is spread out in Holmes and Wayne counties is consolidating operations in Millersburg. The Holmes County Commissioners Monday April 21 approved an Enterprise Zone (EZ)agreement with Coblentz Distributing. The EZ grants a 10 year, 50 percent tax abatement on a new, 39,000 square feet facility that will centralize Coblentz Distributing’s business in one campus as well as allow for the company to expand its product line, Tom Wilke, Holmes County Economic Development Council executive director, said. In exchange for the tax abatement, Coblentz Distributing has pledged to create 25 new full time jobs over the next three years. Coblentz Distributing has further pledged to retain its current workforce of 33 full time employees, Wilke said. Coblentz Distributing makes the Uncle Mike line of dried beef products, Wilke said. Coblentz Distributing currently operates from three sites, one in Wayne County and two in Holmes. Under the consolidation, two sites will be closed and operations moved to the new facility, located next to Coblentz Distributing’s Millersburg facility. Wilke said the Wayne County facility, at 167 Maple Street, Apple Creek, and a Walnut Creek facility at 2641 state Route 39, will be closed. The new facility will be built near Coblentz Distributing’s Millersburg facility, at 3850 state Route 39. The new building and equipment is estimated at $4,050,000, $2,750,000 of which will be subject to real estate property taxes. According to numbers presented by Wilke, Coblentz would have had to pay $24,000 in property taxes per year on the new facility without the abatement. With the 50 percent abatement, Coblentz Distributing will still pay $12,000 per year for the 10 year term of the abatement in the EZ agreement. Coblentz Distributing plans to use the savings on real estate taxes to reinvest in its operations. According to their EZ application, the tax abatement “will free up sufficient working capital to allow the enterprise the flexibility needed to engage in job creation despite the large investment” in the new facility. Coblentz Distributing’s application states it will create eight new jobs per year in the first two years and nine in the third. Construction is scheduled to begin this year in May and wrap up in March 2015. The new facility will include floor space and offices, according to the EZ application. The EZ took three months to complete because the Ohio Department of Development had to sign off before Coblentz Distributing could move operations from Apple Creek to utilize a tax incentive offered in Holmes County, Wilke said.


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