The South Jordan disposable medical products maker, which employs 1,300 worldwide, has about 850 Utah workers. The grant from the state's Industrial Assistance Fund (IAF) is designed to encourage Merit to expand in Utah instead of another state and to convince the company to move a small division to Utah from California.
Fred Lampropoulos, Merit's chairman and chief executive, said he easily could grow his company out of state, "but I like building my business here, and this [grant] helps me do that," he said.
Under guidelines unanimously approved Friday by the Board of Business and Economic Development, Merit is set to receive up to $3,300 for each new employee it hires who earns a minimum of 25 percent above Salt Lake County's median wage of $29,000. That means the new hires would have to earn about $36,250, or $17.43 per hour.
Lampropoulos said he considered Friday's decision "ground breaking" because large IAF grants typically are awarded only to out-of-state companies expanding in Utah.
Board members said offering Merit Medical such a large grant makes sense given the company's financial health, its growth and the fact that it could expand elsewhere.
In July, Merit reported second-quarter net income of $5.1 million, or 18 cents a share, up 13 percent from $4.2 million and 16 cents in 2003. Revenue in the quarter was $38.9 million, up 12 percent.
Merit ranked 10th on the list of the nation's 100 fastest-growing small companies in Fortune magazine's July/August issue, up from 25th last year.
Also on Friday, the board approved three grants designed to encourage companies to film movies in Utah.
The largest, for up to $453,219, is designated for Cameo FJ Entertainment to entice it to film in Utah much of a feature-length movie, "The World's Fastest Indian," about a land-speed record set at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the 1960s. Another film received a commitment for up to $159,804, while a third project was pledged up to $48,000.
The amount the filmmakers receive depends on how much the companies spend in Utah to produce their movies. The money pledged to filmmakers is part of a trial incentive program, operated as part of the IAF, to help the state's struggling film industry.
lesley@sltrib.com
