CLEVELAND, Tenn. (AP) -- Bradley County commissioners have approved financial incentives for Whirlpool Corp.'s new $120 million plant at Cleveland.
Commissioners approved the incentives resolution Monday with no dissenting votes. The Cleveland Daily Banner reports the package includes $6.5 million in grant funds from the state, $1.8 million to be split between the county and city of Cleveland and a 20-year payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement that starts in 2013.
The incentive package next goes to the Cleveland City Council.
Whirlpool is building a cooking appliance plant and distribution center in Cleveland, creating 130 new jobs, while closing its 100-year-old plant in the East Tennessee community.
Doug Berry, vice president of economic development for the Cleveland-Bradley Chamber of Commerce, said the payment-in-lieu of taxes agreements have become a routine part of negotiations in industry recruiting.
"This a weighted incentive that provides more tax abatement now than it does in later years," Berry told the newspaper.
Whirlpool executives have said the 1 million square foot plant and 400,000 square foot distribution facility are part of the Benton Harbor, Mich.,-based company's commitment to manufacturing in the U.S.
Construction is scheduled to start later this year. The LEED-certified facility is expected to start production of built-in cooking products in early 2012.
Whirlpool currently has more than 2,000 employees in its Cleveland-based operations.
The existing factory should be empty by mid-2013 and Whirlpool will likely attempt to sell it.
