“We all got together and made a good investment in a homegrown company that is not only employing people and paying taxes but also, focusing on building our labor force here.” said Stuart Clason, Utah Regional Growth Association Director. “It is how economic development should work, in my opinion.”
Clason, along with Carbon County Commissioner Larry Jensen and Intermountain Electronics (IE) owner John Houston and CEO Bobby Houston, attended the Carbon School Board meeting on Wednesday, August 14 to discuss the expansion of a tax incentive deal made in 2019.
In 2019, IE was granted a tax incentive by the State of Utah, Carbon County, Price River Water Improvement District and Carbon School Board to encourage the expansion of IE in its hometown of Price rather than in Denver. IE successfully began this expansion in November 2019 but was unable to complete the full scope of their envisioned expansion due to limitations on neighboring property.
IE presented to the school board on Wednesday evening to discuss moving forward with their full expansion plans after the neighboring property issue had been resolved. They requested the board’s commitment to honoring the original tax incentive agreement on the rest of the expansion.
Bobby Houston presented an update to the board on IE’s production since their last meeting in 2019.
In the past five years, IE has invested $36 million in its Utah facility. This includes the 2019 expansion, which added 40,000 square feet to support additional employees and equipment needed for the company’s growth.
Over the next three years, IE is forecasted to invest $40 million in community growth. This investment will fund the rest of the expansion, adding more square feet to the facility, as well as new locations for testing and staging to better manage increasing volumes.
“This is where we want to be. It is near and dear to our heart,” said Bobby Houston.
Under the current tax incentive, IE promised to create 286 jobs over a 15-year period beginning in 2019. As of now, the company has already added more than 200 jobs at the Price Facility. This facility generates 50% of IE’s annual revenue, despise the company also having locations inColorado, Illinois and Ohio.
IE also contributes millions of dollars to many local businesses and organizations in Carbon and Emery Counties, helping to spread the economic benefits more widely.
“We’re pretty proud of that fact that we have been able to put this amount back into the community and still operate our business successfully,” said Bobby Houston. “We couldn’t do it without these people.”
IE owner John Houston then addressed the board to discuss the company’s significant efforts to improve and advance education in Carbon County, aiming to encourage students to stay in the area. This year, Utah State University Eastern (USUE) partnered with IE to offer an internship program. USUE provided students with housing in dorms, including cafeteria credits and has awarded academic credit toward their college degrees for their internship work at IE.
Over the summer, 31 interns participated in the program, with 17 of them coming from outside of Carbon County.
“We need people to support our group,” Houston told the board, urging them to work together to provide students with the opportunity to remain in their hometown. “I don’t want to send my kids away. You don’t want to send your kids away. Let’s figure out a way to work together.”
School board member Wayne Woodward echoed Houston’s sentiments and encouraged him to continue engaging in conversations with higher education institutions. Carbon School District promotes students to start earning college credits early, but aligning these credits with the school’s schedule has proven to be a challenge.
Although this was not an action item on the school board’s agenda, the board will revisit the topic in future meetings. They plan to update IE on the decision regarding the incentive after further deliberation to determine if there is interest in continuing it. As of now, Carbon County has agreed to proceed with the original tax incentive plan.