Daisy Brand, which bills itself as the country’s largest sour cream maker, plans to spend more than $100 million to build a new plant in Wooster that will employ nearly 90 people.
Wooster won out over sites in Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania that were considered by the Texas-headquartered Daisy Brand LLC during a year-long “very extensive due diligence period,” according to Shawn Starlin with the nonprofit Wayne Economic Development Council.
A state tax credit valued at nearly $600,000, along with local tax incentives, helped to land the company, Starlin said.
The planned Wooster facility — which will total about 200,000 square feet and will house cottage cheese-making operations — will be only the third Daisy Brand plant. Others are in Texas and Arizona.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved the 10-year new jobs tax credit Monday. Daisy Brand told the state the $116 million Wooster plant is set to open in 2015, and the 89 new hourly and salaried jobs are expected to generate an annual payroll of $4.5 million, an average of about $50,560 per employee.
Also on Monday, the Tax Credit Authority approved tax credits for expansion projects at dental product maker Coltene/Whaledent Inc. in Akron and ECS Tuning Inc. of Wadsworth. Coltene/Whaledent would get $149,889 for creating 50 full-time positions; and ECS Tuning would get $276,769 for creating 105 jobs. ECS is a distributor of automotive replacement parts.
The credits are subject to approval by the state’s Controlling Board. Stephanie Gostomski, a spokeswoman for the state’s Development Services Agency, said that to receive the full credit, a company needs to stay at its location for the term of the credit, and an additional three years.
Starlin, project manager for the Wayne County Economic Development Council, said the Daisy Brand plant is a big win.
“When you have a company that is investing in excess of $100 million, it’s a big deal,” he said, noting the jobs are relatively high paying.
Daisy chose Wooster because of the tax incentives and other factors, including Wayne County’s proximity to eastern and Midwest markets.
Starlin said a healthy milk supply in rural Wayne also was an attraction to Daisy, headquartered in Garland, Texas, outside Dallas.
“Wayne County is the No. 1 milk producing county in the state,” Starlin noted.
Starlin said another attraction is nearby food production facilities, including J.M. Smucker Co., the publicly traded Orrville food and coffee company, and Smith Dairy, the family-owned dairy in Orrville.
He said Daisy was impressed with the local workforce and the Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research Development Center in Wooster.
The plant will be built in northeast Wooster at Akron and Geyers Chapel roads.
In addition to the state tax break, Daisy would receive an income tax credit, Starlin said. The company’s new plant also is contingent on a property-tax abatement.
Other details were revealed about the two other tax credits to other area businesses:
Coltene/Whaledent’s tax credit would be paid over six years. The company told the state that the new jobs would generate $1.6 million in payroll. This is in addition to its current $16 million yearly payroll.
Coltene/Whaledent currently employs 300 at its building at the city-developed Ascot Industrial Park in northern Akron. The facility is the U.S. operations headquarters for the Swiss Coltene/Whaledent.
The tax credit for parts distributor ECS Tuning would be paid over seven years. The new jobs would generate $3.4 million in annual payroll, the company told the state. The company’s current yearly payroll is $3.6 million. ECS Tuning also makes a line of its own automotive parts.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.