Bonham -- At a regular meeting of Bonham Economic Development Corporation (BEDCo) Board of Directors held Monday, July 18, 2016, authorization was given to BEDCo Executive Director Steve Filipowicz to enter into a performance agreement with an unnamed manufacturer for the expressed purpose of creating jobs and establishing a food processing operation in Bonham.
More information will be released once negotiations are finalized on a project that would require an estimated capital investment of $10 million, including acquisition of the facility formerly occupied by Kwal Paint, and has the potential to create 200 jobs over a five-year period paying an average annual wage of $30,000.
A motion made by John Burnett and approved by the board was more specific.
"I move that the BEDCo board approve:
1) A job creation incentive of $500 per new full-time equivalent (FTE) job created by this project, and a 'local hire bonus' of an additional $1,000 per FTE employee residing in the 75418 zip code, to be paid out over a period of time not to exceed 12 years from the initial job creation and development of a mutually acceptable schedule of payments, total job creation incentive not to exceed $300,000, and
2) That BEDCo fund retention of professional consultants to assist with the preparation, submission, implementation, monitoring and contingencies in an amount not to exceed $20,000, and
3) That the executive director economic development, in consultation with the BEDCo corporate legal counsel, is authorized to negotiate and execute a performance agreement with the prospect reflective of the assumptions and terms outlined here, and
4) That this authorization is contingent upon:
A) The identity of the project prospect be publicly revealed and identified, and
B) This action by BEDCo Board of Directors is ratified by Bonham City Council."
If negotiations are successful, the food processing manufacturer will be located at 2430 North Albert Broadfoot Street in Bonham, on the north side of U.S. 82 and the City of Bonham will need to reconstruct approximately 1,720 feet of North Albert Broadfoot Street from the frontage road to the north truck entrance at the facility.
