The Crittenden Press has just learned that the Safetran expansion reported this week in the printed edition of the newspaper, will include at least 100 new jobs. The Press reported in its May 14 edition that the expansion would be significant, but information released late yesterday by the state confirms how important it will be to the local economy.
The company, which has been operating in Marion since 2002, employs 50 full-time workers right now, but it received preliminary approval on April 30 for $2.2 million in state-tax incentives for a $2.8 million expansion project. That would bring its payroll to 150 employees.
According to public records filed by the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet, the state has approved Kentucky Rural Economic Development Grant funds to help aid Safetran's expansion. It will be among the most significant state tax incentives ever granted to a Crittenden County manufacturer. Par 4 Plastics, another local manufacturer, received a $2.5 million state tax incentive for an expansion in 2007. That was the largest expansion project in the county in more than two decades.
The Safetran jobs are expected to pay an average hourly wage of $13, according to Safetran's KREDA application.
