P&G set to pump $400 million into Cache Valley plant expansion

Even more paper products will roll out of Procter & Gamble’s manufacturing plant in Box Elder County in the coming years.

The company has announced a $400 million expansion project that will create at least 100 jobs during the next two decades. The announcement came after Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co. was approved for a tax credit incentive by the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (Go Utah) board.{mprestriction ids="1,3"}

“We are excited to expand our operations in Box Elder County to meet the growing demand for our products and serve our consumers,” Seth Garner, senior director of product supply manufacturing at the Box Elder plant, said in a prepared statement. “We’re grateful to the Box Elder County community, a place we have called home since 2010, for their continued support, and we look forward to many years of partnership and growth.”

In business since 1837, Cincinnati-based P&G manufactures consumer products throughout the world. They include products in the cleaning, laundry, paper, beauty care and healthcare segments that are used in more than 170 countries.

The Box Elder facility was established in 2010 on approximately 750 acres of land, with over 40 acres under its roof. It produced its first roll in January 2011. More than 500 people work there to support the company’s efforts across P&G’s paper, baby care and feminine care businesses.

The newest expansion is expected to generate new wages totaling $120.8 million over 20 years, with the new jobs paying an average of $68,600. New state tax revenue is projected to be $104.2 million during that time. The state incentive is in the form of a 10 percent tax credit on the new taxes generated, or up to $10.4 million.

“Procter & Gamble is a well known company with brands that are in almost all Utah households,” Ryan Starks, Go Utah executive director, said in a prepared statement. “We’re excited they have decided to expand in Box Elder County, and we wish the company success as they continue to grow.”

“We are thoroughly impressed by Procter & Gamble’s continued investment in Box Elder County and their commitment to being a world-class corporate citizen,” said Scott Cuthbertson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “The company’s ongoing diligence in resource stewardship and quality job growth makes them an ideal partner in Utah’s goal for economic prosperity.”

When Box Elder County was selected as the plant site in 2007, it won out over five existing P&G paper-products locations. The process of landing that initial $300 million project was very secretive, with Utah state and local nameonly basis with P&G representatives and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah working through a real estate representative — and unaware that P&G was his client — for several months. It would be the company’s first “greenfield” site in the U.S. in three decades.

The organization then known as the Governor’s Office of Economic Development in 2007 approved a potential $85 million tax incentive for the plant, with the idea that it would start with 300 workers and balloon to 900 by 2018 and 1,000 by 2028.

In 2015, the GOED board approved a tax incentive of over $11 million for a $400 million expansion tied to the creation of 200 jobs over 20 years. In 2020, the board approved a tax incentive of about $4.2 million for a $310 million plant expansion tied to the creation of about 220 jobs over 20 years.

Go Utah does not provide upfront cash incentives. Each year that an incentivized company meets the obligations in its contract with the state, it will qualify to receive a portion of the new, additional state taxes the company paid to the state.{/mprestriction}