OGDEN — Amer Sports, a major manufacturer of sports goods in Ogden, is proposing a $30 million upgrade to a building in Business Depot Ogden as part of a big expansion plan that could create up to 155 new jobs over 10 years.

The company is seeking $4.08 million in tax incentives in all to help with the plans. That total includes $2.46 million in tax-increment financing, currently a point of debate among Ogden officials and focus of a planned public hearing on Oct. 19. An additional $1.31 million in incentives would come from the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity in the form of rebates on sales, corporate and withholding taxes. Another $300,000 would come via the Utah Industrial Assistance Fund grant program, meant to encourage job growth.

The $2.46 million would be used for equipment and upgrades to the inside of the massive 480,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center Amer Sports uses at 961 W. 2nd St. in the BDO,  said Brandon Cooper, deputy director of community and economic development for Ogden. The funds would take the form of deferred property taxes the company would otherwise owe on the increased value of the property brought on by its upgrade plans.

Amer Sports, Cooper told the Ogden City Council when officials discussed the $2.46 million tax-increment financing proposal, has been a “catalytic entity” in efforts to create an outdoor industry cluster in Ogden. “They’ve been a direct benefit to us over the years,” he said, and he anticipates that would continue.

An Amer Sports rep couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Friday on the plans. The company, based in Finland, is an international company with locations around the world and it makes everything from skis to baseball bats. In Ogden, it has U.S. corporate offices at the AmeriCan Center and makes carbon fiber bicycle rims and components at Enve Composites, a subsidiary at 508 W. Stockman Way in the city’s Trackline Economic Development Area.

Cooper said the proposed upgrades would be completed over 10 years, resulting in the creation of 100 t0 155 new jobs in that period.

The city would need to create the Flagship Community Reinvestment Area around the Amer Sports BDO site to facilitate the proposed tax incentive and that will be the focus of the Oct. 19 hearing, after which the City Council may act.

In all, the initiative would generate $2.9 million in tax-increment financing. Around $2.46 million of that would be used with the Amer Sports project and the rest, around $445,000, would be be used for administrative costs and housing programs, per state guidelines.

Of the $2.9 million total, collected over up to 10 years, $1.62 million would come from tax revenue otherwise earmarked for the Ogden School District. Another $645,000 would come from money meant for the city and $639,000 would come from money meant for Weber County.

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