OGDEN -- The Home Depot Inc. accepted incentives Thursday from the Governor's Office of Economic Development to open an 80,000-square-foot online customer service center in Business Depot Ogden that will employ 691 workers.
Also on Thursday, GOED authorized incentives allowing Lifetime Products Inc. to undertake a $41 million expansion of its plastics manufacturing facility in Clearfield, resulting in the hiring of 142 new employees over the next decade.
The Home Depot customer service center will provide national support for the company's online business, www.homedepot.com, said Ogden Business Development Director Steve Fishburn.
The center will open in August and will lease space in a new building that will be built off Depot Drive. The Home Depot will invest more than $5 million in tenant improvements to the structure.
The Home Depot chose Ogden over about 80 cities in the U.S. as the location for the customer service center, said Fishburn.
The company plans to hire 600 workers in 2012 and the remaining 91 within the following year, he said.
Of those employees, 181 will be paid 125 percent above the Weber County average wage.
The GOED Board of Directors approved Thursday a 10-year post-performance tax credit of up to $521,867 over the life of the project. The state estimates that The Home Depot will pay more than $2.6 million in new state tax revenue over 10 years.
In addition to the post-performance incentive, 100 Home Depot employees will receive special training through training grants offered jointly by Ogden-Weber Applied Technology College and the Utah Department of Workforce Services.
The city will not provide any cash incentives to The Home Depot but will work with The Boyer Company, which manages Business Depot Ogden, to ensure that the lease on the customer service building is affordable, said Fishburn.
The Home Depot's decision to operate in Ogden is a significant economic benefit to the state, Gov. Gary Herbert said in a prepared statement.
"The Home Depot is an exciting new addition to Utah's growing list of Fortune 500 companies. The productivity, dedication and friendliness for which our work force is known makes Utah an ideal location for any customer-service operation," Herbert said. "The Home Depot's new operations center is another leap toward our goal of adding tens of thousands of new jobs to our Utah economy."
Mayor Matthew Godfrey said the recruitment of The Home Depot is a major economic development accomplishment for Ogden.
"We couldn't have been more impressed with The Home Depot team and are thrilled they selected Ogden," Godfrey said in a prepared statement. "We are confident our work force will exceed their expectations and help them achieve the success for which they are renowned. It's been a pleasure working with them, and we look forward to a very long-term relationship."
Construction on the customer service center building will begin in the next few weeks and will be completed in spring 2012, said Stephen Holmes, a spokesman for The Home Depot.
Factors that persuaded The Home Depot to choose Ogden for the center included the area's well-trained work force and Business Depot Ogden's amenities, Holmes said.
The Home Depot is the world's largest home improvement retailer based on net sales for the fiscal year ended Jan. 30. The company operates 22 stores in Utah, with 2,200 stores in four countries.
Herbert also said he is pleased that Lifetime, a world leader in residential basketball equipment and polyethylene folding tables and chairs and other plastic products, will expand its operation in Clearfield's Freeport Center.
"It is exciting to see that, after serious competition from other national and international locations, Lifetime has decided to expand in its home state of Utah," Herbert said. "Competition is fierce for high-quality manufacturing jobs and high-quality manufacturers like Lifetime. Once again, Utah's welcoming business environment and its dedicated and productive work force have proved an irresistible combination."
Richard Hendrickson, president of Lifetime, said the company is looking forward to growing its business in Utah.
"Lifetime, as a global company, is always looking for product and processes that allow us to expand globally, domestically, and especially locally in Utah, where we were founded 25 years ago and are headquartered still today," he said in a prepared statement. "We are very pleased to have such strong support in the state and local government entities as we strive to provide jobs and opportunities for our highly qualified Utah work force."
Clearfield Mayor Don Wood said Lifetime's expansion will bolster the city's economy.
"In a global economy, companies have many options. I am elated that Lifetime Products has selected Clearfield city as the location for this major corporate expansion," he said in a prepared statement. "Lifetime Products has always been a great corporate citizen and community partner.
"Their willingness to make this substantial investment in our community speaks to their commitment to the families of Northern Utah. We are excited to see a lot of new job positions over the next few years."
Lifetime will retain its current work force and over the next decade will add 142 new full-time positions with salaries in excess of 125 percent of the Davis County average.
The company is expected to pay out more than $46 million to its work force during the first 10 years of the agreement with GOED.
The GOED Board has authorized a single post-performance tax credit of $3.1 million to Lifetime for new and retained jobs, as well as the expansion of the Clearfield manufacturing facility payable in increments over 20 years. The new state tax revenue to be paid by the company is expected to be in excess of $12 million.
See what the Weber County Forum says: http://wcforum.blogspot.com/2011/10/standard-examiner-two-companies-expand.html
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