Danville may be on its way to securing a glass operation that would bring several hundred jobs to a longtime factory space, but the process remains in the early stages.
At Monday's Danville City Commission meeting, Jody Lassiter, president and chief executive officer of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, got approval to go ahead with securing a grant to help retrofit the vacant Philips Lighting plant, which closed earlier this year, for a new glass operation, NeoStar Glass LLC.
NeoStar gained preliminary approval for state incentives last month that will allow the company to recover up to $5 million in corporate income taxes and wage assessments on state income taxes if it creates the number of jobs planned.
Lassiter, who said his office began working with NeoStar around the time Philips closed for good in February, said the plan laid out for the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority called for 50 jobs in the first year, 150 in the second and 300 total jobs by year three. The jobs would pay about $16 per hour, according to the state's website.
The plant initially would produce lighting glass as a supplier, but Lassiter said there are plans to use innovative new approaches to glass making that would allow the company to manufacture everything from Pyrex plates to glass ornaments.
Lassiter stressed that the preliminary incentive approval from the state and any other activity surrounding the project does not mean it is going to go forward. NeoStar is still only in preliminary negotiations with Philips over gaining access to the plant property through a lease agreement or purchase.
The $40,000 Community Development Block Grant discussed on Monday is also necessary, Lassiter said, in order to refurbish one of the furnaces and the infrastructure surrounding it.
Approval was necessary from the city and county because the funds will flow through those entities to the Boyle County Industrial Foundation, which will loan the money to the company at a low-interest rate of 1 or 2 percent. Lassiter said those funds, when recovered by the industrial foundation, would be used to help with other economic development projects in the future.
The City Commission unanimously approved moving forward with the grant application. Boyle Fiscal Court gave unanimous approval last week.
The former Philips plant operated as a glass-making facility for more than six decades, first as Corning Glass, then as Philips Lighting when it was purchased in the 1980s. When Philips closed the doors in February, there were about 80 employees still working at the factory.
At Monday's Danville City Commission meeting, Jody Lassiter, president and chief executive officer of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership, got approval to go ahead with securing a grant to help retrofit the vacant Philips Lighting plant, which closed earlier this year, for a new glass operation, NeoStar Glass LLC.
NeoStar gained preliminary approval for state incentives last month that will allow the company to recover up to $5 million in corporate income taxes and wage assessments on state income taxes if it creates the number of jobs planned.
Lassiter, who said his office began working with NeoStar around the time Philips closed for good in February, said the plan laid out for the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority called for 50 jobs in the first year, 150 in the second and 300 total jobs by year three. The jobs would pay about $16 per hour, according to the state's website.
The plant initially would produce lighting glass as a supplier, but Lassiter said there are plans to use innovative new approaches to glass making that would allow the company to manufacture everything from Pyrex plates to glass ornaments.
Lassiter stressed that the preliminary incentive approval from the state and any other activity surrounding the project does not mean it is going to go forward. NeoStar is still only in preliminary negotiations with Philips over gaining access to the plant property through a lease agreement or purchase.
The $40,000 Community Development Block Grant discussed on Monday is also necessary, Lassiter said, in order to refurbish one of the furnaces and the infrastructure surrounding it.
Approval was necessary from the city and county because the funds will flow through those entities to the Boyle County Industrial Foundation, which will loan the money to the company at a low-interest rate of 1 or 2 percent. Lassiter said those funds, when recovered by the industrial foundation, would be used to help with other economic development projects in the future.
The City Commission unanimously approved moving forward with the grant application. Boyle Fiscal Court gave unanimous approval last week.
The former Philips plant operated as a glass-making facility for more than six decades, first as Corning Glass, then as Philips Lighting when it was purchased in the 1980s. When Philips closed the doors in February, there were about 80 employees still working at the factory.
