Meeting in Cedar City, the board offered Charlotte Pipe and Foundry $875,000 in tax rebates to start operations in an industrial park in this southwestern Utah city.

It also approved an incentive package of tax rebates worth $8.35 million to yogurt manufacturer The Dannon Co. Inc., which is considering a $200 million expansion of its current production facility in West Jordan.

Michael D. Nelson, managing director of recruitment and incentives for the board, said the Dannon project would also benefit Utah's dairy industry by adding an additional 35,000 head of dairy cows.

The incentives would be paid out to the companies in tax rebates over a 10-year period for Charlotte Pipe and seven years for Dannon.

In exchange, both companies must agree to stay in Utah for 10 years and pay new employees 150 percent of the median wages currently being paid in Salt Lake and Iron counties.

Cedar City added its own incentives for Charlotte that include helping train workers. West Jordan is offering $2 million in needed infrastructure for an expanded Dannon operation.

Last year, the $38 million in incentives offered to companies has the potential to generate $260 million in tax revenue, pay $2.8 billion in wages and add more than $1 billion in infrastructure to the state.