City approves incentives for Heil to invest in local plant
Steven Stiefel | Times-Journal | Apr 9, 2021
The Fort Payne City Council returned to live meetings on April 6 and approved a resolution to grant a tax abatement to Heil Co. so the company can move forward with plans to modernize locally.
DeKalb Economic Development Director Jimmy Durham said Heil has been a great corporate citizen since arriving in 1973. The company now wants to invest $42.3 million and sought the abatement of $430,000 in non-educational taxes. The Council passed the resolution authorizing Mayor Brian Baine to enter into the agreement.
“Fort Payne and Heil have had a really good relationship for 50 years,” said Ken Chandler, VP of Operations & Supply Chain for Environmental Solutions Group. “The investment we are looking at making will really anchor us here and allow us to modernize. The trucks we are building today are more complex than the ones we made five to seven years ago. They’ve become very complex with a lot of sensors and data. We need to change our manufacturing process, phasing over the next three to four years. This will allow us to deliver the best trucks in the business and grow over time.”
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