A St. Louis area manufacturer plans to bring 200 manufacturing jobs to Jefferson City by the end of next year.
Continental Commercial Products, a subsidiary of Katy Industries Inc., which manufactures janitorial and food-service cleaning products and retail storage products, announced Tuesday it is moving its operations and corporate headquarters to the facility at 321 Wilson Drive, formerly occupied by RR Donnelley.
Continental Commercial Products (CCP) plans to hire 150 new employees by the end of 2015 and be operational in its Jefferson City facility by that time, said Missy Bonnot, director of economic development at the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, at a news conference Wednesday. The company plans to hire an additional 50 people by the end of 2016, she said.
CCP will move its corporate office and operations from its current facility in Bridgeton to Jefferson City. The company selected the Jefferson City site over options in St. Louis; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Vandalia, Illinois.
"We commend Jefferson City, Cole County, the Chamber of Commerce and their business partners for the effort they put forward during our selection process," said Brian Nichols, vice president of human resources for CCP, in a news release from the chamber. "The benefits associated with this location made Jefferson City the best option for relocation of our manufacturing facility."
Nichols did not respond to a Wednesday call for comment, but Bonnot said factors weighing in the Jefferson City site's favor were the existing building's size and fit for CCP, as well as its rail access - the plant has a rail spur that is serviced by Union Pacific Railroad.
"This company will be creating 200 jobs, and we thought it was extremely important to be cognizant of the competitive nature of this project and the three other communities that we were competing against, to be very aggressive with our incentives," Bonnot said.
As an incentive to attract CCP, Jefferson City and Cole County officials have agreed to abate real estate and personal property taxes, assuming the company follows through in creating the number of local jobs it promises, Bonnot said. An official performance agreement has not yet been drafted, but will specify the length of time CCP has to create those jobs.
Other incentives include a $500,000 infrastructure grant to help CCP move its raw product into the building, plus a $1.7 million incentive payment from 321 Wilson Drive LLC, the property's current owner, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. CCP paid a $1.6 million lease termination fee to leave its current Bridgeton facility.
"We're very excited to welcome an excellent company like Continental to Jefferson City," said Mike Stuckenschneider, managing partner of 321 Wilson Drive LLC, in the news release. "The building has been an important piece of Jefferson City's history for over 50 years, and we're thrilled there will be new jobs entering our community."
CCP's lease is for 534,000 square feet of space. An additional 80,000-square-foot building, as well as some office space in the main building at 321 Wilson Drive, remain available for commercial lease, said Andy Stuckenschneider, general manager of 321 Wilson Drive LLC.
The chamber began working with the owners of 321 Wilson Drive LLC, as well as the city and county, to bring CCP to the facility a few months ago.
"We are very pleased and excited CCP has selected Jefferson City as its new location," said Jefferson City Mayor Eric Struemph during the news conference. "This project has truly been a great partnership between many entities all working together toward a great project that will have a big impact on our community."
Related links:
Katy Industries at www.katyindustries.com
Continental Commercial Products at www.continentalcommercialproducts.com
Company's annual report at www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/54681/000114036115013509/form10k.htm
SEC filings on the building lease at www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/54681/000114036115013706/form8k.htm
Company product catalog at issuu.com/contico/docs/2015_ccp_catalog_smaller?e=0/10941034
Earlier coverage:
A St. Louis area manufacturer is moving its operations and up to 150 jobs to Jefferson City when it moves into a plant RR Donnelley left vacant nearly a year and a half ago.
Continental Commercial Products, a subsidiary of Katy Industries Inc., signed a commercial lease agreement with 321 Wilson Drive LLC on March 25 for approximately 534,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space, according to a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday.
Continental Commercial Products manufactures, imports and distributes a variety of products including commercial janitorial maintenance, industrial and food-service products; home and tool storage products; and professional cleaning products.
The company's corporate headquarters are located in Bridgeton, which is the location that will move to Jefferson City. It also has Missouri manufacturing and distribution facilities in Hazelwood and Berkeley, as well as locations in Chino, California; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Toronto.
The company has a claim for constructive eviction against the landlord at the Bridgeton facility, alleging the plant was not adequately maintained. The company has paid a lease termination fee of $1.6 million, according to the regulatory filing.
The commercial lease agreement states if Continental Commercial Products' Jefferson City facility creates at least 150 jobs, associated real estate taxes would be abated, according to the SEC filing. The landlord also agreed in the lease to make an incentive payment of $1.7 million to Continental Commercial Products.
The Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce has been working with the owner of 321 Wilson Drive LLC on this economic development project since late 2014, said Randy Allen, chamber president.
"We think it's exciting news for the community, and it's been a real team effort," Allen said. "It's an unusual project because we've been trying to fill an existing building."
Allen declined to give any further details about the company's plans at this time.
The 11-year lease is set to begin Aug. 1, 2015, and end July 31, 2026. Continental Commercial Products has the option to renew the lease for two subsequent renewal periods of five years each. The property's initial rent will be $10,908.33 from March 31, 2015, through Jan. 1, 2016, after which the rent amount will increase to $138,395 per month. The lease also includes rent escalators that will bring the maximum rent amount to $154,195 per month during the final 11 months of the lease.
RR Donnelley, a printing company originally established in Jefferson City as part of the Von Hoffmann Press Company in 1964 and formerly located at the 321 Wilson Drive facility, shut down its local operations in October 2013. Jefferson City's 12th-largest employer at the time, RR Donnelley employed 475 workers.
The property changed ownership last August, with 321 Wilson Drive LLC listed as the current owner. The SEC filings list Mike Stuckenschneider as the company's manager.
According to a site description from the Missouri Department of Economic Development, the 321 Wilson Drive facility is 653,000 square feet, while the Continental Commercial Products lease is for 534,000 square feet of space.