Officials today approved state incentives for a project in Waterloo that’s expected to create 245 new jobs at a pork processing plant. Tyson Fresh Meats already employs 2,900 at the facility.

“It will be a $28 million capital investment that the company is making,” says Iowa Economic Development Authority spokeswoman Tina Hoffman. “That will give them the ability to expand and renovate their existing facility in Waterloo.”

The Iowa Economic Development Authority’s board has voted to provide the company with $2  million in state tax credits and refund nearly $400,000 in state taxes that would be charged on construction materials. Company officials pledge to pay the 245 new plant workers at least $17.29 an hour.

“These are great jobs for the area,” Hoffman said. “The High Quality Jobs program has a qualifying wage that is based on a market wage….so all 245 new jobs will be at or above that wage.”

Also today, state economic development officials approved incentives for a new fiberglass recycling facility in Newton. Global Fiberglass Solutions will employ 57 people in Newton once the facility is completed.

“They’re going to locate in some of the old Maytag facilities where they can create recycled materials from decommissioned wind blades and other products,” Hoffman says.

Newton is already home to a company that makes the towers for wind turbines. The headquarters for Global Fiberglass Solutions is near Seattle. The company’s spending $6 million on its new facility in Newton.

Businesses in three other Iowa cities that are expanding are getting state tax breaks.

Beck’s Superior Hybrids plans to spend nearly $11 million expanding its processing facility in Mount Pleasant. Ten more people will be hired to work there once it’s completed.

A bank holding company based in Dubuque has promised to hire 31 more people after the company’s headquarters in Dubuque is expanded. Heartland Financial USA is getting an $80,000 state grant as well as the tax credits in support of the project.

A company in Marion that makes huge industrial “mixers” for chemicals, minerals, plastics and food is building a new testing facility next door to its manufacturing plant in Marion. The company promises to hire three new people in exchange for the state tax incentives.