ST. LOUIS — Procter & Gamble plans to invest $180 million at its plant along the riverfront north of downtown, cementing job security for over 500 workers and laying the groundwork for as many as 100 more.
The company is seeking incentives for the investment from the St. Louis Port Authority, which would facilitate a 10-year, 50% tax break on $60 million in new equipment at the factory and a sales tax exemption on construction materials for $120 million of real property improvements.
The St. Louis P&G factory — a century-old industrial campus on East Grand Avenue near the Merchants Bridge — makes much of the Cincinnati-based consumer product giant’s Cascade dishwasher detergent along with Mr. Clean, Febreze and Swiffer brands. It employs some 530 people there, according to a city report on the project, and it could add another 100 people with salaries averaging $65,000 after the project.
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“St. Louis won a competitive search to retain and expand Procter & Gamble’s existing home products facility,” said Neal Richardson, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., which operates the Port Authority. “Helping to ensure P&G continues to grow in St. Louis is a huge win for our city and region.”
The Missouri Department of Economic Development has offered the company Missouri Works state tax incentives, which are tied to job growth at a company. The city report said the incentives are “essential” to P&G’s decision to invest in and expand its St. Louis factory.
Richardson said SLDC helped facilitate “partnerships” between P&G and Annie Malone, SLATE, St. Louis Public Schools and the Urban League to “improve access to employment opportunities” for city residents.
The company has been working with the city and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership for more than a year on the project.
The plant came to the city for a major expansion back in 2011, when it sought 10 years of tax abatement for $150 million in factory improvements over five years. Employment at the plant has actually grown from about 230 in the mid 2000s and about 450 a decade ago.
