Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Fishers City Council approved a nearly $21 million incentive package on Monday for an Italian pharmaceutical manufacturer to build its new facility on farmland at 126th Street and Cumberland Road.
Stevanato Group announced plans last week to spend $145 million to build and equip a 370,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Fishers for its line of EZ-fill vial and syringe products. To incentivize that investment and bring more than 250 new jobs to the city, the Fishers City Council voted unanimously Monday night to approve a project agreement that offers the company a 15-year tax abatement worth $9.2 million, a $2.4 million commercial property grant and nearly 36 acres the city plans to buy at 126th and Cumberland.
Indianapolis-based KSM Location Advisors CEO Katie Culp said Fishers’ offer to help pay for the greenfield development is what convinced Stevanato to locate in the city.
“They were in very close competition with other communities within the Indianapolis region,” Culp said. “Rather than coming to the first meeting with a cookie-cutter solution, [city officials] were really able to listen to what the needs of the clients were.”
Megan Baumgartner, the city’s director of economic and community development, said the jobs created by Stevanato Group are expected to pay an average salary of $70,000 a year.
To further facilitate the deal, the city council unanimously approved a lease agreement Monday between the Redevelopment Authority and the Redevelopment Commission. In doing so, those entities may issue up to $27 million in bonds—an estimated $16 million of which will go toward acquiring 75 acres to be split between Stevanato and a future life sciences business park.
Culp said Stevanato considered Fishers’ interest in establishing like users nearby a key factor in its consideration of the city.
According to city documents, Stevanato is hoping to begin construction in Fishers this fall. However, the project agreement will allow the company to hold off on construction until spring.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
What portion of that $9.2 million tax abatement is money that the schools won’t be getting? The city should only be able to wave the city’s portion of the property taxes and not redirect money away from the schools.
On a positive note it’s going to create many good paying jobs in which a lot of tax dollars will be collected and of course go to the schools.