Those jobs will be chemical engineers and warehouse employees, he said.
FAIRFIELD NEWS: Fairfield wants to stop unfettered access to city building in $1M security upgrade
“We’re just excited to be here in Fairfield and appreciative of the council and mayor, and people of Fairfield, and want to be here for a long time,” Meade said.
City Council this week approved a five-year, 60 percent property tax abatement for the 36-year-old Calvary, which has been on Seward Road since relocating into the city in 1987.
This is Calvary’s second tax incentive, said Fairfield Economic Development Manager Alex Kraemer. In 2014, the company added 16,000 square feet onto its facility and promised to create eight jobs in exchange for a four-year, 50 percent property tax abatement in 2014.
The company ended up creating 19 new jobs, Meade said.
“Sales growth throughout the country helped (create more jobs than promised),” Meade said. “And our own internal research and development has done a great job developing new products and improving current products to help us grow.”
FAIRFIELD NEWS: How Fairfield has helped improve the world’s water quality for 25 years
Meade said company officials don’t promise a similar job-growth result with this expansion, but said the reason for this expansion is because one of its personal care products is growing to require the addition.
“We had to make that decision whether to make that expansion in central Lousiana or here in Fairfield, and with the proposal you have before you we decided Fairfield was the place,” Meade said.
Meade said Calvary’s Louisiana plant has “similar capabilities” as its headquarters in Fairfield. He said without the tax break, however, the expansion project could have ended up in Pineville, La., a city a third of the size of Fairfield.
About the Author
