Staff Reports
A Seymour firm that manufactures boxes and retail displays recently received a 10-year $3.5 million tax abatement for the purchase and installation of a color flexo rotary die cutter with a conveyor system.
The new equipment will allow Touchpoint LLC, doing business as The Royal Group, to retain its present workforce of 67 and add six new employees. The company operates two plants in the East Side Industrial Park on the city’s east side.
The new jobs also are expected to add another $360,000 to the company’s current payroll of $3.05 million, according to a statement of benefits provided to the city as part of the request.
City council members OK’d that request on a 5-0 vote during their meeting Monday night. Councilman Dave Earley did not attend the meeting, held in the training room of the Seymour Police Department because of the ongoing renovation of city hall.
Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., spoke on behalf of the company and said the project to install the equipment should start soon and be wrapped up before the end of the year. Company Controller Patty Thomas also attended the meeting to answer any questions about the request, but there were none from council members or the public.
Tax abatements are granted to ease companies into paying property taxes on new investments. That means over the next 10 years, The Royal Group will be increasingly less exempt from paying property taxes with exemptions going down by 10% each year.
In the first year of abatement, no property taxes or personal property taxes are due. The first full property tax and personal property tax payments will happen after the 10 years pass.
In the spring of 2018, the company sought and received an abatement of nearly $3 million of similar equipment, which was expected to create five new jobs.
The Royal Group manufactures corrugated packaging, displays and graphics. With a multitude of machine capabilities, the company can design and produce packaging for many industries, including retail, e-commerce, food-safe, industrial and automotive. It also specializes in offering value-added solutions to the most demanding of customers.
The company, a subsidiary of Carmel-based Schwarz Partners LP, offers corrugated boxes, including industrial, retail and display solutions, with hand assembly and fulfillment. Schwarz Partners LP has 37 manufacturing and distribution/fulfillment centers across the country, including four others in Indiana.