July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
GFT seeks abatement (2/10/05)
Company will make high-tech insulation at Pennville plant
By By Mike Snyder-
A start-up high-tech firm located in Pennville is asking that property taxes on $600,000 in equipment be phased in over a five-year period.
GFT LLC, which has focused on research and development of specialized insulation products over the past two years, is asking for a tax abatement on the production equipment it plans to purchase.
Members of the Jay County Council, who got an explanation Wednesday of what the company is doing from CEO Phil Griffith, referred the request to the county tax abatement advisory committee.
That committee will return a recommendation to the council, which has denied only one abatement request in the past seven-plus years.
Council president Jack Houck, like his fellow council members, was impressed with the company’s mission. Houck said that GFT, which hopes to add as many as 10 employees over the next year or so, is a prime example of the type of company Jay County should be trying to attract.
GFT, which currently has only Griffith and one other employee, hopes to start manufacturing operations at the Pennville Industrial Park on Monroe Street in the next one to two months. Paperwork filed in support of the tax abatement said the company plans to (Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
add 10 employees at an annual payroll of $400,000.
Griffith, an expert in the field of polymide foams and foaming technologies, told council members that the company is a back-up producer of an insulation product that is used on all ships in the U.S. Navy. The insulation is safer because it will not burn.
Another one of the company’s products will be used on the space shuttle when launches resume in May, said Griffith. That patent-pending product, VersaFlex, will be used on the outside of some pipes inside the shuttle.
One of the research projects for the company, Griffith said, is attempting to develop a sprayable polymer insulation for use on the external fuel tank for the shuttle. GFT produces a lightweight insulation that is immune to ultra-violet rays — a component crucial for use on the shuttle tanks — but the current product must be heat cured, complicating a spray application.
Council members Marilyn Coleman, George Meehan, Gerald Kirby, Judy LeMaster, Jim Zimmerman, Todd Wickey and Houck also gave their approval to the creation of a new position in the office of the Jay County prosecutor.
The new employee will assist in the collection of child support.
Prosecutor Brad Burkett, who discussed the position with Jay County Commissioners earlier this week, said that state officials urged him to add an employee because the percentage of support collected dropped slightly in 2004.
The current Title IV-D coordinator spends two-thirds of her time on those cases and the other third on general prosecutor’s business.
Jay County is one of only three counties in Indiana with less than a full-time employee working on IV-D cases, Burkett said.
He said that the coordinator, Connie Southworth, is so good at what she does that it has kept the county from having to hire extra help.
“I’m amazed we’re able to be as efficient as we are. If it wasn’t for Connie, we wouldn’t be,” Burkett said.
Sixty-seven percent of the salary and benefits of the new employee will be reimbursed by the state via a federal pass-through grant, Burkett added.
A job description for the position will be prepared and forwarded to Jonna Reece, the county’s contract pay plan consultant. Reece will make a recommendation on a pay grade for the new position, which will determine the starting salary.
Burkett said he plans to return to discuss the appropriation of money for the new position in April.
“I do think support collection is a necessity — especially in today’s world,” Kirby said.
In other business Wednesday, council members:
•Approved a long list of additional appropriations to the 2005 budget, including moving $39,702.99 into a line item for use by a county tourism committee. The activities of that committee are funded by an innkeepers’ tax on motel rooms in the county. Al Confer, who is chairman of the county tourism committee, made the request for the appropriation Wednesday.
In a similar request, the council approved moving money into a line item to act as seed money for an alcohol and substance abuse awareness program through Jay Superior Court. A total of $16,576 was moved into contractual services line item in the Alcohol/Substance Abuse, Awareness and Education Fund.
Offenders who are ordered into the program pay a fee to offset the costs.
Also approved Wednesday was the use of $6,402 in fees paid by the Jay County Landfill to purchase a new phone system for the courthouse annex on West Arch Street.
Other additional appropriations OK’d Wednesday: Disclosure Fund — County assessor clerical, $6,000; County General Fund — Circuit court law books, $5,000; Tobacco Cessation-Prevention Fund — Medical transportation aid program, $3,000; and Court Interpreter Grant Fund — Court translation service, $975.[[In-content Ad]]
GFT LLC, which has focused on research and development of specialized insulation products over the past two years, is asking for a tax abatement on the production equipment it plans to purchase.
Members of the Jay County Council, who got an explanation Wednesday of what the company is doing from CEO Phil Griffith, referred the request to the county tax abatement advisory committee.
That committee will return a recommendation to the council, which has denied only one abatement request in the past seven-plus years.
Council president Jack Houck, like his fellow council members, was impressed with the company’s mission. Houck said that GFT, which hopes to add as many as 10 employees over the next year or so, is a prime example of the type of company Jay County should be trying to attract.
GFT, which currently has only Griffith and one other employee, hopes to start manufacturing operations at the Pennville Industrial Park on Monroe Street in the next one to two months. Paperwork filed in support of the tax abatement said the company plans to (Continued on page 2)
(Continued from page 1)
add 10 employees at an annual payroll of $400,000.
Griffith, an expert in the field of polymide foams and foaming technologies, told council members that the company is a back-up producer of an insulation product that is used on all ships in the U.S. Navy. The insulation is safer because it will not burn.
Another one of the company’s products will be used on the space shuttle when launches resume in May, said Griffith. That patent-pending product, VersaFlex, will be used on the outside of some pipes inside the shuttle.
One of the research projects for the company, Griffith said, is attempting to develop a sprayable polymer insulation for use on the external fuel tank for the shuttle. GFT produces a lightweight insulation that is immune to ultra-violet rays — a component crucial for use on the shuttle tanks — but the current product must be heat cured, complicating a spray application.
Council members Marilyn Coleman, George Meehan, Gerald Kirby, Judy LeMaster, Jim Zimmerman, Todd Wickey and Houck also gave their approval to the creation of a new position in the office of the Jay County prosecutor.
The new employee will assist in the collection of child support.
Prosecutor Brad Burkett, who discussed the position with Jay County Commissioners earlier this week, said that state officials urged him to add an employee because the percentage of support collected dropped slightly in 2004.
The current Title IV-D coordinator spends two-thirds of her time on those cases and the other third on general prosecutor’s business.
Jay County is one of only three counties in Indiana with less than a full-time employee working on IV-D cases, Burkett said.
He said that the coordinator, Connie Southworth, is so good at what she does that it has kept the county from having to hire extra help.
“I’m amazed we’re able to be as efficient as we are. If it wasn’t for Connie, we wouldn’t be,” Burkett said.
Sixty-seven percent of the salary and benefits of the new employee will be reimbursed by the state via a federal pass-through grant, Burkett added.
A job description for the position will be prepared and forwarded to Jonna Reece, the county’s contract pay plan consultant. Reece will make a recommendation on a pay grade for the new position, which will determine the starting salary.
Burkett said he plans to return to discuss the appropriation of money for the new position in April.
“I do think support collection is a necessity — especially in today’s world,” Kirby said.
In other business Wednesday, council members:
•Approved a long list of additional appropriations to the 2005 budget, including moving $39,702.99 into a line item for use by a county tourism committee. The activities of that committee are funded by an innkeepers’ tax on motel rooms in the county. Al Confer, who is chairman of the county tourism committee, made the request for the appropriation Wednesday.
In a similar request, the council approved moving money into a line item to act as seed money for an alcohol and substance abuse awareness program through Jay Superior Court. A total of $16,576 was moved into contractual services line item in the Alcohol/Substance Abuse, Awareness and Education Fund.
Offenders who are ordered into the program pay a fee to offset the costs.
Also approved Wednesday was the use of $6,402 in fees paid by the Jay County Landfill to purchase a new phone system for the courthouse annex on West Arch Street.
Other additional appropriations OK’d Wednesday: Disclosure Fund — County assessor clerical, $6,000; County General Fund — Circuit court law books, $5,000; Tobacco Cessation-Prevention Fund — Medical transportation aid program, $3,000; and Court Interpreter Grant Fund — Court translation service, $975.[[In-content Ad]]
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