The Iowa Department of Economic Development Board approved economic development incentives for seven projects Thursday. D-E-D director Mike Tramontina says Newton won an award of 630-thousand dollars and tax benefits. Trinity Structural Towers of Dallas, Texas will create 140 jobs building steel towers for wind turbines in the former Maytag plant in Newton.
Tramontina says it’s a fine company that will be a great edition to the state. He says Trinity brings multiple benefits for Newton. Tramontina says the benefit includes the 140 jobs, and the company also fills the existing Maytag plant, and it’s hope they will generate business for other companies to supply the steel tower industry.
The Trinity jobs will pay an average wage of $19.05 an hour. Trinity will invest 21-million dollars to get the building ready for manufacturing with production expected to begin late this year or early next year. Pioneer Hi-Bred was awarded a state benefit package to expand its plant genetics facilities in Johnston and Durant. He says Pioneer is creating 27 jobs that will pay around 29 dollars an hour and will receive some cash and tax credits for creating the new jobs.
The Independent Can Company of Fort Madison was awarded $100,000 along with tax benefits to help build a new 80,000 to 90,000 square foot plant to expand production of decorative metal containers. Tramontina says the company will create l0 jobs and retain 10 jobs paying an average wage of $18.20 an hour. He says Fort Madison and the Lee County area have lost a lot of manufacturing jobs the past several years, and this will be a nice boost for the area.
HUSCO International was awarded $800,000 to help locate a manufacturing plant in Maquoketa. Tramontina says the Wisconsin-based supplies customers including John Deere. They are opening the Maquoketa plant in an existing building. HUSCO will create 170 new jobs building it’s hydraulic equipment. He says the jobs will have an average hourly wage of $14.
Two other companies were given state incentives — Winger Contracting Company was awarded tax benefits for a one million dollar expansion in an Ottumwa. Winger expects to create 24 jobs paying an average wage of $22.48 an hour.
Golden Grain Energy in Mason City was awarded $200,000 for a project to make 15 million gallons of biodiesel from the corn oil by-product of ethanol production. The partnership expects to create 11 jobs, seven of which paying an average wage of $20 an hour. The company plans a capital investment of about 24-million dollars to integrate the biodiesel technology at the Mason City plant.