Maytag is getting a one-and-a-half million dollar state tax credit for expansion of the company’s Amana plant. Iowa Department of Economic Development director Michael Blouin says the company qualifies for the tax credit through the state’s New Jobs and Income program which offers such state financial incentives to companies that promise major expansions. Blouin says the company plans to hire two-hundred more workers once the Amana facility is expanded. Blouin says the deal secures the jobs of about 360 workers, as Maytag did consider moving production to Mexico. Company officials have signed a five-year contract with the state, pledging the facility won’t be closed down or moved during that time period. Blouin says it’s a signal Amana is in Iowa for at least the foreseeable future. Blouin says he and other state officials were in discussions with the company for about six months before the deal came together. “Anytime you can get Amana or any other member of the appliance industry to commit to a new product line in Iowa, you have to be very, very happy about it,” Blouin says. Company officials and Blouin, though, are secretive about just what that new Amana product will be. “The product itself is top-secret,” Blouin says.
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