Monsanto awarded $4.15 million for Muscatine project

Fifty-one new jobs will come to Muscatine should Monsanto fulfill an agreement with the state.

The Iowa Economic Development Authority Board awarded the St. Louis-based agribusiness company $4.15million in incentives Friday for a planned expansion at Monsanto's Muscatine plant.

Monsanto's Muscatine plans include a $75 million project, a majority of which will go toward bringing in new equipment that company uses to make herbicide, such as RoundUp.

To receive the incentives, Monsanto has to create 51jobs. Monsanto employs 391 at the Muscatine plant, according to state documents.

All of the new jobs have to pay at least $17.06 an hour.

The award is also contingent on the Muscatine County Board of Supervisors approving a five-year tax abatement.

The authority board also granted Monsanto an extension on another project in Independence. Monsanto has delayed the $90 million project, citing market changes, according to state documents. The board awarded the company $7.5 million in tax credits in May 2008 for the project.

Friday's extension gives Monsanto another year to start the Independence project. Should the company start the project in the next 12 months, Monsanto will immediately get another four years to meet its obligations to the state that include creating 47 jobs.

The authority board awarded three other companies incentives Friday:

Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative of Davenport received access to $465,000 in loans and $543,040 in tax credits. The dairy farmer co-op plans to expand a cheese manufacturing plant in Clayton County. The project is expected to cost about $20.6 million. The coop has to create and retain 99 jobs, 93 of which have to pay at least $13.70 an hour.

XTL Inc. received more than $1.2 million in tax credits for a $63 million project in Council Bluffs. The Pennsylvania-based logistics company wants to buy 51 acres of land to build a cold-storage warehouse. XTL has to create 45 jobs, 30 of which must pay at least $17.60 an hour.

Vama Inc., a biotech firm, received $200,000 in tax credits to lease a building in Keokuk. The company wants to develop a product to fight mites that attack honey bees. The project is expected to cost $810,000. Vama has to create 50 jobs, 16 of which have to pay at least $20.95 an hour.