Kansas City Council approves tax break to expand East Side food equipment manufacturer

The Kansas City Council on Thursday approved tax breaks to expand an East Side food equipment manufacturing operation that expects to create more than 85 additional jobs.

“This is an exciting project,” said Scott Taylor, chair of the council’s planning, zoning and economic development committee.

The ordinance provides a 15-year, 100 percent tax abatement for Shick USA, a long-established industrial food equipment manufacturer, to expand its operation in the Blue Valley Industrial District. The tax break would add up to $755,875 over the 15 years.

The company plans to buy a building for $1.7 million at 4323 Clary Blvd., next to its current facility, to increase production capacity.

The building is owned by Western Containers and needs considerable rehabilitation and upgrades. Shick expects to invest an additional $2.9 million in outfitting the building for its production needs.

City officials said the project is supposed to retain 137 positions and add 87 jobs with an average employee wage of more than $50,000.

Shick USA has been approved for job creation benefits under the Missouri Works program, entitling it to at least 50 percent tax abatement for 10 years on real property.

But the company asked for, and the council approved, a longer and deeper property tax abatement of 100 percent for 15 years, as justified by the added job creation.

This story was originally published August 20, 2015 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Kansas City Council approves tax break to expand East Side food equipment manufacturer."