By CHARLES RICHARDS
EParisExtra!
The Paris City Council tonight will complete an economic development deal with Campbell Soup, which recently announced it will install a new product line at its Paris plant at a cost of $45.4 million.
The company estimates this new product line and associated technologies will create 68 new jobs over the life of the agreement, and Campbell Soup agrees to retain sufficient employment levels to efficiently operate and support its Paris plant during the term of the agreemtn..
The economic benefit to Campbell Soup of the city’s proposed seven-year, 100 percent tax abatement is $2,884,710.
The agreement to abate taxes on the new investment for a period of seven years was key to the company’s decision to bring the expansion to Paris instead of two other cities that were in the running.
Campbell Soup, based in Camden, N.J., announced recently it had decided it was in its best interests to invest $45.4 million in real estate and equipment at its Paris plant at 590 Loop 286 NW to install a new product line that Campbell Soup described as follows:
Ready-to-eat soup line, including preparation blending, filling/chilling, packaging and finished goods warehouse.
Refrigeration equipment and infrastructure to support the required project chiller, conditioned manufacturing, product/ingredient storage and refrigerated dock spaces.
Ingredient preparation equipment, including hand scaling equipment, extractor for bulk frozen ingredients, four frozen ingredient and two dry ingredient batching stations and fresh cream/milk handling system.
Pre-mix systems, including emulsion and thickener systems.
Blending cell, including four blending kettles complete with ingredient delivery and blending control systems.
Filling area, including cup filler, bulk pouch filler, and single serve pouch filler.
Product chiller with in-feed mechanism for pouches and cups.
Packaging area, including the following for pouches: carton erector, manual case packing station, check weighing station and case sealer; and the following for cups: two product acccumulators, overcapper, labeler, sleever, case packer; and paletizer for pouches and cup products; all inter-connecting conveyances.
Refrigerator finished goods warehouse with gravity flow racking, including dock with dock doors and exterior paving,
The company said installation of the building modifications, machinery and equipment should be substantially completed during the month of July 2013.
Kimberly Clark plant in Paris
It is the second time this month that the Paris Economic Development Corporation, has brought to the council a tax abatement agreement wrapping up a major investment.
On Aug. 13, the council approved 10 years of tax abatement to Kimberly Clark’s on a $150 million expansion at its personal care division in Paris.
Over the next five years, Kimberly Clark has agreed to invest $150 million to significantly enhance its machinery and equipment at its Paris plant, located at Loop 286 SW and FM 137.
Those will consist of investments made to upgrade machinery and equipment technology used in the diaper manufacturing process specifically related to KC’s products known as Huggies, Pull-Ups, Goodnights and Little Swimmers produced at the Paris plant.
For example, new equipment enhancements will enable Kimberly Clark to add new features to its Pull-Up training pants, and to introduce a new slip-on diaper, which would, in turn, allow Kimberly Clark to remain competitive with other product offerings in the market.
The value of Kimberly Clark’s existing land and buildings (not subject to abatement) is shown on the tax rolls of the Lamar County Appraisal District at more than $178 million.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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