The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) board met to award tax incentives to Rembrandt Enterprises for an expansion project in Winnebago County that will create 197 new jobs at a qualifying wage of $14.86/hour and result in a capital investment of $86.5 million. The board also took action to approve funding for the City of Waterloo through the Iowa Reinvestment District program.
“This is a great project for my home county of Winnebago,” said Governor Terry Branstad. “Rembrandt’s expansion will create nearly 200 jobs, opening great opportunities for Iowans to increase their family incomes with these high-quality, good-paying jobs.”
Rembrandt Enterprises is a privately held, leading agribusiness and food company headquartered in Spirit Lake, Iowa, that is comprised of three businesses. The Pet Care business provides ingredients to leading pet food manufactures. The Farm Nutrients business provides agronomy solutions directly to the farm. Finally, Rembrandt Foods is an egg-production business producing customized egg products for the food ingredient/food service industry, including the baking, mayonnaise, sauces, dairy and confectionary industries. Rembrandt Foods is one of the largest egg and egg ingredient producers in the world.
With this initiative, Rembrandt will build a new large-scale egg processing plant to expand the distribution of Iowa-produced, egg-protein powder within the United States and globally. This plant will include a large-scale pasteurizer, pasteurizing rooms, and both liquid and dried packaging equipment. With the addition of two egg dryers as part of the project, Rembrandt will be shaping the future of egg drying in the US through this increased capacity.
The board also approved the maximum benefit amount of $12 million for the TechWorks Campus Reinvestment District plan submitted by the City of Waterloo. The Iowa Reinvestment District Program is designed to assist communities in developing transformative projects that will improve the quality of life, create and enhance unique opportunities, and substantially benefit the community, region and state. The program provides for up to $100 million in new state hotel/motel and sales tax revenues to be “reinvested” within approved districts. Districts cannot exceed 25 acres in size, and must be in an Urban Renewal Area.
Iowa Reinvestment District plans must include tax revenues generated by “new retail establishments” and “new lessors”. New retail establishments cannot exceed 50 percent of the total proposed capital investment. At least one of the new proposed projects within the district must reach a total capital investment of $10 million. And, the total amount of new tax revenues to be remitted to the municipality cannot exceed 35 percent of the total cost of all proposed projects in the district plan.
In 2014, 10 municipalities submitted applications, with three receiving a score in excess of 70 points (out of 100). In June, 2014, the IEDA board approved provisional funding for the projects in the City of Des Moines, the City of Muscatine and the City of Waterloo. Final application materials fully meeting all of the program’s requirements are due prior to March 1, 2015.
The City of Waterloo submitted its final application on Jan. 23, 2015, and today the IEDA board acted to award the maximum $12 million benefit amount contingent on the receipt of a fully executed, amended development agreement between the City of Waterloo, Cedar Valley TechWorks and the developer.
The TechWorks district, located at the west end of downtown and made up of land donated by Deere & Company, would have a capital investment of $74.1 million and include three projects. The first is a mixed-use development including a business-class hotel, industrial incubator, private sector lab and manufacturing maker-space, and John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum. The second project area includes commercial out-lots such as a restaurants and retailers that complement other project areas. The third project area includes a marina for boat storage, boat sales, fuel sales and a riverfront restaurant.
Final applications for the cities of Des Moines and Muscatine have not yet been submitted to the IEDA board.