The Perry Industrial Park will soon welcome its first new occupant in more than a decade when TC&B Corporate Wearables Inc. moves in and builds out the 30,000-square-foot spec building unveiled last summer by the Perry Economic Development Inc.
“It’s not 100 percent official yet,” said Clark Fessler of Perry, president and CEO of TC&B Corporate Wearables, “but it’s probably in that 90-plus percent range that we’re going to get the deal done. We’re just down to dotting i’s and crossing t’s.”
TC&B Corporate Wearables designs, manufactures and distributes primarily textile products, such as caps, sportswear, promotional gifts and incentives. The 35-year-old company has offices in Perry and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) facilitated the TC&B project by awarding tax credits in exchange for the company’s $2 million in new capital investment and its agreement to create 10 jobs in Perry, including four “incented jobs” at a qualifying wage of $25.19 per hour.
The IEDA granted the tax credits through the High Quality Jobs Program (HQJP). Tyson Fresh Meats near Perry recently received state tax credits under the HQJP.
“There’s a tax credit if we create the jobs,” Fessler said. “There’s no up-front money from them on anything. It’s incremental over a five-year period, so if you don’t meet the goals, they’ll end up clawing back anything that you did receive.”
Fessler said business is good, and he is confident TC&B will meet the job-creating goal set in its contract with the IEDA.
“We set some fairly conservative goals, but we know we’re growing,” he said. TC&B currently employs 30 workers in Perry and plans to add five this year.
Fessler said the deal also involves some sales tax credits on materials used in the build out of the spec building. He said the company plans to use two floors of office space and about 20,000 square feet of warehouse space.
“We didn’t have to stay in Perry,” he said, “but we preferred to stay in Perry. I think it’s a plus for everybody. Hopefully, we can recruit some more talented people and if they’re not already from Perry, then we can get them to move in. When they can make respectable money, then Perry becomes a more attractive place to live, with the cost of living and everything else.”
The Perry Industrial Park attained certified-site status in 2015, and TC&B Corporate Wearables will join the park’s other occupants, Percival Scientific, ITC Midwest and Hy-Line International.
