Manufacturer making $350 million investment, creating 200+ jobs looking at Bibb County

Bibb County may be landing a large manufacturing company looking for a new location.

The Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority has been in discussions with a company, known for now as Project Bengal, about coming here since late last fall. During negotiations, the company’s name is not made public.

The company is expected to make a $350 million investment and employ more than 200 people in Phase I of its manufacturing facility, said Mayor Robert Reichert during a called meeting at the Macon-Bibb County Board of Tax Assessors on Wednesday afternoon.

The board approved an agreement to set a value for the real estate and personal property and to submit that to the industrial authority.

“We are here today to announce that we apparently successfully negotiated with a very large industrial prospect to come and locate in Macon-Bibb County,” Reichert said during the meeting. “We are thrilled beyond belief because of the significance of the size of the investment, the number and quality of jobs and the salaries that will be paid. These are high-paying jobs in advanced technology ... that we think is just going to be great for Macon-Bibb County.”

The annual payroll is projected to be $11 million, and the company is expected to build a 1.5 million-square-foot facility.

“And we have a guarantee of a Phase II,” Reichert said.

On Tuesday, the Macon-Bibb County Commission approved an intergovernmental agreement relating to the distribution of payment in lieu of taxes related to Project Bengal. The other parties involved are the Industrial Authority and the Bibb County school district. Payment in lieu of taxes is also referred to as PILOT payments.

The school board also had a called meeting Wednesday night and the agreement was the only item on its agenda. The board unanimously approved it without discussion in open session.

That agreement sets out a schedule for the abatement of taxes for 20 years. The incentive deal is similar to one made for the Kumho Tire Co., which built a 1 million-square-foot manufacturing plant in the Sofkee Industrial Park. The grand opening of that $450 million plant was in May 2016.

If the PILOT payments for a company are more than 10 years, it requires an agreement by the county commission and school board. Also, the agreement divides up the disbursement of the PILOT payments equally among the county, the school district and the authority.

The industrial authority would use about $4.6 million of the $9.7 million in PILOT payments for infrastructure and development costs related to the project, according to the agreement.

Attracting Project Bengal here “required incentives, but even with the level of incentives that we have negotiated we still think it is a very positive move,” Reichert said.

“Within the next 12 to 18 months and they’re in operation by 2018, there is going to be an investment, we understand of $350 (million) .. as far as building and machinery,” he said.

It took “nearly a year to land” the company, he said, but “once they made the decision” company officials wanted to know “how quick can we get there and get started.”

Reichert said he was hopeful the industrial authority would be able to meet the company’s timeline because it hopes to make an official announcement Friday. The agreement states that it becomes effective Friday.

“And we were advised on Monday of this week that they’re coming,” he said. “So, we’re thrilled, we’re excited.”

If the company chooses Bibb County, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal could be here for the official announcement.

Kevin Brown, the authority’s attorney, was a little more cautious about how certain the company would end up here.

“The hope is if everything goes well, we make the offer to the company and they say, ‘we’re ready,’ but you never know,” Brown said. “We are down to the wire.”

He said the company is still considering other locations.

“This is not a bird in the hand,” he said. “We want to make sure everything is in place and we can make this offer when the company is ready. ... I know we’re in the last group (of locations being considered) and it’s make or break it time.”

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 6:52 PM with the headline "Manufacturer making $350 million investment, creating 200+ jobs looking at Bibb County."