The incentive was approved last month in large part because of an outpouring of support from Pleasant View, a small community north of Ogden. Community leaders said the area badly needs the 500 jobs the company promised a new processing and distribution facility would provide.
Because of unforeseen wetland issues that have driven up the cost of building in Pleasant View's business park, the company is once again reviewing its options in Utah and other western states. West Liberty CEO Ed Garrett did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment.
The state is clearly trying to salvage the deal, which represents a $50 million investment.
"If they were to locate elsewhere in [Weber] County and there were no substantial changes to the plan, the offer would move with them," said Michael Nelson, director of corporate recruiting and incentives for the Governor's Office of Economic Development, according to an e-mail early Tuesday by GOED spokesman Michael Sullivan. "In a situation like this where the company was affected by issues not in their control, we would likely allow them to even move to a different county if necessary to keep the new jobs."
By late Tuesday, however, Nelson was less definitive, leaving a voice mail that said although the state would like West Liberty to expand in Utah, whether it ultimately would get the $2 million if it locates somewhere else in the state remains to be seen.
Typically, most incentive offers are site-specific and designed to encourage companies to expand in areas of the state that need jobs the most.
In the case of West Liberty, some members of the Governor's Office of Economic Development board were concerned about offering an incentive to a company providing only low- to moderate-paying jobs.
But the incentive was approved - in great part because of pleading by Pleasant View officials, which said the company's jobs could sustain families living in the area.
According to West Liberty's application for incentives, its wages average about $29,900 annually. That wage is about 39 percent above the median wage of $21,500 for Weber County, the state says, but lower than a number of other companies that have receive state incentive money.
West Liberty has estimated that a new facility would employ about 250 people at the time it opens in mid-2007, reaching an estimated 500 people within three years.
The company, owned by the Iowa Turkey Growers Cooperative, had planned to break ground in Pleasant View by summer.
The incentive from Utah is a tax rebate, in which the company would receive for a number of years a portion of what it pays in taxes to the state.
West Liberty processes turkey meat for about 50 farmers, as well as other types of meat. The facility it plans to add will not slaughter animals; instead, it will take meat from other facilities and process them into products such as deli meats and ground turkey. The processed meats are sold to food-service operations and some retail outlets.
lesley@sltrib.com
