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The company, Long Beach-based Redbarn Pet Products, meanwhile, is negotiating for purchase of the former John Morrell pork packing plant that was shuttered in July. Officials expect any deal to close before the end of the year.
Redbarn officials indicated during several earlier meetings with city and county leaders that it would employ up to 175 people at the plant within two years, offering wages starting at $8.65 an hour.
Under the three-way agreements approved Monday by both the Barton County Commission and the Great Bend City Council, the city and county will each pay Redbarn an upfront $22,500 grant, and then each will offer $800 per full-time job created, up to 175 jobs.
Each entity will draw its $162,500 from existing Economic Development Revolving Loan Funds, said Barton County Administrator Richard Boeckman.
Tapping the revolving loan funds requires that at least 51 percent of the people employed at the plant fall under low- or moderate-income guidelines when hired.
In Barton County, the median family income is $50,400, said Patty Richardson, executive director for Great Plains Development Inc., which administers the loan program within the county. So, to qualify, the annual income for an individual prior to being hired would have to be $29,300 or less -- or about $14 per hour. The mean wage for meatpackers last year, according to Kansas Labor Department figures, was about $12.50 an hour.
For its part, Redbarn must begin production at the plant within six months, reach full employment within two years, and remain in the community at least three years. Half the funding will be paid up front, to help the company relocate and remodel the plant. It could then apply for additional money as jobs are added, Boeckman said.
It has not been determined, he said, how often job creation reports would be required. The company would be required to repay funds only if it closed in that period.
The company was started in California by two friends in 1996. It employs 150 in California and 130 at a plant in South America. Its products are available in stores such as PetCo, Walgreen's and Kroger, and it also has independent distributors.
Company co-founder Howard Bloxam told officials in Great Bend last month it would cost an estimated $2.5 million to $3 million to relocate the plant, including property and equipment acquisition, but that it would give the company room to grow. The closed 150,000-square-foot packing plant was last appraised at $1.8 million.
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