The state, Montrose County, the Montrose Economic Development Corp. and the city of Montrose are prepared to offer a package of incentives to an international manufacturing company, which officials are declining to identify until a deal is struck.
County spokeswoman Kristin Scuderi said the company is headquartered outside the U.S. and intends to move to North America. She said the company has narrowed the locations it is considering to Montrose and one other city she did not know.
The company would immediately create 40 new jobs and a total of 200 within two to three years, making it one of the largest employers in Montrose, said Sandy Head, president and executive director of the Montrose Economic Development Corp. She said the company’s average annual wage is $49,000, about 50 percent more than Montrose County’s average annual wage of $32,800.
Head wrote an e-mail to Montrose Economic Development Corp. investors, seeking their support. She described the company’s clientele as “very high-end” and said they’re based both in the U.S. and outside the country. She wrote that the company’s customers will travel to and stay in Montrose for several days and possibly purchase second homes in the area.
Scuderi said the county’s unemployment rate has been above the national average, so the introduction of new jobs would be a boom to the unemployed.
Head said Wednesday the Montrose Economic Development Corp. has been working for seven months to try to lure the company to Montrose. She said officials hope to know whether the company will select Montrose in the next four to six weeks.
Head said a number of incentives are being dangled in front of the company. She said the state and the Montrose Economic Development Corp. are offering cash through a state job-training program, performance-based incentives and enterprise zone tax credits. The county is proposing a property tax credit and another incentive, while the city is offering breaks on development and permit fees, she said.
