February 14, 2012
The Tennessean
Kevin Walters
The Mars and Nutro regional innovation center to be built in Thompson’s Station will be the first in the United States. / Submitted
Incentives include $2.2 million discount on property taxes
FRANKLIN — Pet food giant Mars Petcare will fetch a $2.2 million property tax break from Williamson County over the next decade in exchange for building its first U.S. regional innovation center and new corporate headquarters in Thompson’s Station.
Commission members approved the deal — known as a payment-in-lieu-of-tax agreement — with a 20-3 vote Monday night in Franklin.
Mars joins only five other companies getting tax breaks from Williamson County. The most recent deal came in 2010 when Jackson National Life Insurance Co. received a five-year, 40 percent discount on its property taxes.
By the summer, work will begin on the company’s first U.S. regional innovation center where researchers and veterinarians will test new foods on dogs and cats that will live there. The company makes pet food brands such as Pedigree, Whiskas, Cesar and Royal Canin.
When completed, the Thompson’s Station site would be one of only five similar innovation centers in the world — with all the other centers overseas.
“We’ve had fairly dispersed facilities, and I think now we’ve been looking to see how do we bring all this together in a way that makes more sense,” said Jennifer Aspen, Mars vice president of research and development.
Mars, which has leased space in Franklin since 2006, plans to spend $87.9 million on its Thompson’s Station facilities, completing the work in two phases. The company will buy a nearly 93-acre tract near State Route 840 where the center and the headquarters will be built.
In addition to the county’s tax break, state leaders are promising to cover $10 million in construction and design costs with a state grant.
Not all commissioners approve
While Mars has longstanding corporate ties to Tennessee dating back to 1979, the company did explore other possible locations for the project. Ultimately, company executives chose to stay in Williamson County.
“For us we felt we are a member of Williamson County,” said Debra Fair, vice president for corporate affairs. “This is a natural fit for us. The state of Tennessee is a natural fit for us as far as our values and the values of the state as well.”
Among county commissioners, support came after discussion about what the county was willing to give away in order to keep Mars and the company’s promises to bring more jobs here. The company, along with its Nutro brand, employs about 615 people here and would add 144 as part of the innovation center and the headquarters project.
County Commissioner Kathy Danner questioned why Mars should warrant a tax break. She asked county economic development chief Matt Largen why Mars would get the incentive, but the Drury hotel chain, which is building one of its new plaza hotels on McEwen Drive, would not. The hotel is slated to open this summer.
“This company, to me, is not an economic development attraction,” Danner said about Mars. “We’re not trying to get them to come here. They’ve been here for decades. … What’s the magic jobs number that we approve, or that we even consider, for a tax abatement?”
Largen said numerous factors determine when tax breaks might be given. But the jobs at Mars hold a special appeal because they are mostly in health care and information technology fields, which typically pay more than secondary restaurant and retail positions.
“There’s really no magic number,” Largen said. “We just take a lot of different things into account when we look at a company and the sort of impact they have beyond just the number of jobs.”
Commissioner Cheryl Wilson sees the Mars development near 840 as a good fit for a part of the county that’s largely undeveloped.