This story is excerpted from Great Falls This Week, a weekly newsletter on Great Falls city government, public school meetings, business news and upcoming entertainment and events. Sign up to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Friday. Sign up It was all flattery and excitement last week as officials from both Great Falls and Cascade County approved tax breaks in hopes of luring a major manufacturer to town. By the end of the month, Janicki Industries is expected to choose between Great Falls, Twin Falls, Idaho, and Jerome, Idaho, to build a 1.5-million-square-foot manufacturing campus that could bring hundreds of jobs to the area. Janicki is a private company based in Washington state that manufactures metal tooling and parts for the marine, defense and aerospace industries. The company also has a facility in Utah and has more than doubled its workforce to 1,900 since 2022. Local officials view Janicki as a tremendous opportunity for Great Falls, which has seen limited economic growth over the decades. The facility could generate millions of dollars in property tax revenue from land that’s currently vacant, bolster the local subcontractor market and bring a much-needed influx of families and their purchasing power to local businesses and real estate. “What do we got to do to get you to come to Great Falls?” City Commissioner Rick Tryon said during a May 12 meeting. The city commission approved its incentive, a tax break for new and expanding industries. It offers a 50% reduction in property taxes for five years. That reduction diminishes over the next five years, until the company pays the full amount by year 10 and beyond.  As part of the proposal, Janicki would be granted separate tax abatements for each of the four construction phases. The city has put in place occupancy guidelines to maintain eligibility for the tax benefits. The occupancy deadline for the first phase is May 31, 2029. The deadline for the fourth and final phase is May 31, 2035. The city commission voted unanimously in favor, with Commissioner Shannon Wilson absent. The Cascade County Board of Commissioners also met on May 12 and approved the same kind of tax incentive for its share of property taxes. The county also approved another tax break granted by state law on an estimated $2.7 million of industrial equipment. Both votes were unanimous in favor.  The total estimated tax benefit would reduce the company’s annual tax burden from $9.3 million to about $3.8 million. It would be one of the largest tax breaks given by the city and county, given the size and scope of the Janicki project. A line of supporters spoke at both the county and city meetings last week about the perceived impact the project could have on the region. The supporters included Great Falls Chamber President Ed Brown, NeighborWorks Great Falls Executive Director Sherrie Arey and Great Falls Public Schools Superintendent Heather Hoyer. They also included major business sector representatives like Brad Talcott of James Talcott Construction, Shane Etzwiler of NorthWestern Energy, Scott Reasoner of Enbar, Inc., and Dwight Holman of Holman Aviation. “The pressure’s on, but it’s worth it,” Talcott told city commissioners. “Because this is a company that could be great for Great Falls.” There were no opposition comments at the county meeting and just two at the city meeting. Valynda Holland, a Democrat candidate for Senate District 11, said that the extension of tax benefits to large, profitable corporations is unfair to the rest of the business community. “I think we need to ask one important question: Why are working families and small businesses expected to pay their full share while major corporations are offered tax breaks before they have contributed anything to our community?” Holland asked. Janicki expects to hire and train regionally as much as possible, according to a presentation by Nick Lavacca, the company’s community relations representative. “It is this community that we’re looking at,” Lavacca told city commissioners. “It’s not importing a bunch of people from Washington.” But there is a smaller pool of immediately available workers in Great Falls than in other locations, which Lavacca said presents a challenge. Around the company’s facilities in Sedro Woolley and Hamilton, Washington, Lavacca said there are hundreds of thousands of potential workers. Its Layton, Utah, facility is in the greater Salt Lake City area. But landing the company would “instantly” elevate the state’s advanced manufacturing profile, according to Mitch Staley, chief marketing officer for the Montana Department of Commerce. “For young Montanans, this unlocks amazing career pathways and opportunities plus provides new economic opportunities for the region and our state,” Staley wrote in an email to MTFP. “Montana’s aerospace and defense footprint is still developing, and Janicki would be the ideal ‘anchor tenant’ to add high‑value manufacturing jobs to a region that has a lot of potential.” Multiple officials praised the Great Falls Development Authority, which has long worked to recruit manufacturing entities to the AgriTech Park, a rail-served industrial development that GFDA owns. Cascade County Commissioner Joe Briggs said this is the kind of opportunity stakeholders have been waiting for. “Sometimes people have an issue with tax abatement,” Briggs said. “This one, I will tell you, is exactly what tax abatement is designed for. It is designed to get a facility moved to our area.” In-depth, independent reporting on the stories impacting your community from reporters who know your town. The post Great Falls rolls out tax breaks to lure company to the city appeared first on Montana Free Press. ...read more read less