Job incentive deal brewing in Haywood
Haywood County could be landing new jobs in the near future — but what type of jobs, how many and when they would be coming are a secret for now.
Haywood County commissioners met behind closed doors Monday to discuss an economic incentive package for an unnamed company or employer. It could be a new business or an expansion at an existing business.
The Haywood County Economic Development Commission met two weeks ago to discuss the incentive package before passing it along to county commissioners. The county is still in negotiations with the unnamed company so nothing is certain yet.
The size of the incentive depends on the number of jobs being created and the scale of the physical investment — such as factory expansion or new equipment — being made by the employer. Haywood County has a formal incentive policy based on a sliding scale. On the low end, a company has to create at least 15 new jobs with an investment of at least $500,000.
The theory is that counties would recoup the value of the incentive over time from property taxes paid by the company and from simply a more robust economy.
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Given the sensitive and competitive nature of luring new jobs, discussion of economic development incentives are allowed to take place in closed session.
Buncombe County recently spent months negotiating a secret incentive package that was finally announced this week to bring more than 50 new GE jobs and a new high-tech manufacturing plant for specialized materials of jet engines.
