Janesville manufacturer GOEX planning new plant, new jobs
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On the agenda
The Janesville City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday in City Hall, 18 N. Jackson St. Residents can meet informally with some or all council members at 6:30 p.m.
Items include:
-- A request to apply for a transportation grant from the state to help GOEX pay for infrastructure improvements to expand its business at 802 Highway 14.
-- Discuss in closed session the sale of properties at 409 S. Franklin St. and 416 S. Franklin St. renovated through the city’s rehabilitation program.
JANESVILLE — A Janesville manufacturer is moving forward with plans for a new facility on the city’s north side that would retain 128 jobs and create 63 new ones.
GOEX plans to move from Foster Drive to a new 161,000-square-foot facility on the south side of Highway 14 at Newville Road. The new plant is expected to cost about $13 million.
The move to a new plant would more than double the company’s capacity. It also would make the GOEX facility on Foster Drive available to Prent Corp. next door.
Prent is the parent company of GOEX and a growing global leader in custom thermoform packaging with facilities around the world.
GOEX is an industry leader in extruding a variety of resins into custom rigid plastic sheet and roll stock. It has posted double-digit growth in each of the last 10 years but is landlocked and needs to expand.
GOEX President Josh Gray said construction should start in the late second quarter or early third quarter of this year. The building will be situated on the lot to maximize space for future expansion, if needed.
“We think that it will take all of a year to build out,” Gray said.
Construction will be followed by a systematic relocation from Foster Avenue that won’t affect customers.
Gray said the company expects to add 63 jobs in the next several years.
“We’d love to add 100, but we have to control our growth, and that will take some time,” he said.
The new site will give GOEX the advantage of rail service.
The company plans to get its raw materials by rail, an important consideration because GOEX buys in commodity markets that are often driven by pennies, Gray said. Rail shipments are expected to provide savings that are important to the company’s continued growth, he said.
In 1999, GOEX bought about 24 acres along Highway 14 for an expansion that never happened.
Last fall, it signed a one-year option with Rock County to buy an additional five acres at $46,000 per acre. The extra land is needed for infrastructure right-of-ways, and Gray said that option would be exercised in coming months.
At its meeting Monday, the Janesville City Council will consider an application for a state Department of Transportation grant to pay for traffic signals at Highway 14 and Newville Road, a frontage road, a railroad spur to a Union Pacific line, sidewalks and street lights.
The state grant would cover half of the $1.1 million total cost, with the remainder—$560,000—coming from the city’s tax increment financing district in which the project is located.
In addition, the TIF would pay nearly $63,000 to extend sanitary sewer to the site, which is not an eligible expense in the state grant, and $97,000 in borrowing costs.
Vic Grassman, the city’s economic development director, said the state Transportation Economic Assistance grant is critical to the project because TIF 21 was created in 1999 when GOEX bought its 24-acre parcel.
Because the original expansion project didn’t materialize, the property has been empty and hasn’t generated enough property taxes to pay the full $1.1 million cost of infrastructure improvements, he said.
“That’s why getting 50 percent of the cost through the grant is so important,” said Grassman, who noted in a memo to city council members that the GOEX jobs start at between $13 and $16 per hour and many workers earn between $20 and $25 per hour.
Gray said the project is exciting for the company and its employees.
“Sometimes you have to remind yourself to stop and enjoy it,” he said. “It’s hard when you’re matted down in meetings about it all the time. We’ve continued to cram all we can into our existing facility, and we’re looking forward to getting into the new facility with some more breathing room and opportunities for efficiencies.”
Mar 13, 2013 at 8:13 a.m.
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janesvillean
Are you going to continue to use a campaign "goal" from an election of 2010? Too bad we have obstructionists (like Cullen), trying to make sure Wisconsin fails.
Why did the Feds withdrawn the extended unemployment payments to Wisconsin?
.........
Changes to Benefit Extension End Dates
**Update January 25, 2013**
"Wisconsin’s economy has improved and, as a result, Wisconsin’s Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) program is reduced from 3 tiers to 2 effective February 9, 2013.
The third tier of the EUC program is in effect when the unemployment rate is high enough to reach levels specified in state and federal law. Wisconsin’s unemployment rate no longer reaches the levels required for EUC Tier 3 program.
EUC Tier 3 is closed to new participants after February 9, 2013. Claimants receiving EUC Tier 2 will qualify for Tier 3 if the final payment of Tier 2 is for the week ending February 9, 2013 or earlier."
http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/uiben/extended_...
Mar 10, 2013 at 2:42 p.m.
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"After running on the campaign promise he would add a quarter million jobs to Wisconsin’s private sector, Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday he believes his goal is not feasible."
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"Current Employment Statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor reveal Wisconsin has added only 9,100 jobs between December 2011 and December 2012. The state experienced losses of more than 4,000 jobs four of these 13 months."
http://badgerherald.com/news/2013/03/07/...
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True believers, though, will continue to believe. It's all they have.
Mar 10, 2013 at 2:07 p.m.
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"Enabling these expansions to flourish?"
Haha, that's funnier than most of what Baghdad Bob had to say.
Mar 10, 2013 at 8:35 a.m.
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More jobs - right on schedule. Thank you Governor Scott Walker for enabling these expansions to flourish. Now I know why Wisconsinites have elected You TWICE as Governor.
Mar 10, 2013 at 7:31 a.m.
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wislady, once again, you demonstrate how poorly informed FOX News viewers are, only getting the worldview they want to hear. The United States, as you may have learned, operates under the rule of law, including contract law. Contracts, therefore, are legally binding instruments. When the employees have employment contracts, either individually or in aggregate, whethe explicit or implicit, they are stakeholders, because that contract holds the company to certain commitments. This is what stakeholder means. Alas, in recent years, employers have been given more and more latitude under the law to break contracts with workers. One wonders what the "rule of law" means in such a society.
Mar 9, 2013 at 5:36 p.m.
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Who wants to be like Europe?
Unemployment Remains a Stumbling Block in the Eurozone
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/03/08/unem...
Mar 9, 2013 at 5:07 p.m.
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"where the Stakeholders of the firm (employees) are supposed to have equal rights with the Shareholders of the firm. That is what is taught in U.S. universities"
Maybe, that is what is wrong with what is being taught. A Stakeholder has an interest in the business, but is not always a SHAREHOLDER.
America is NOT Europe.
Mar 9, 2013 at 3:58 p.m.
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To Wislady:
If corporations are doing nothing wrong, then they should not have to worry about being attacked. Maybe it is time for corporations to give up Crony Capitalism and return to true Capitalism, where the Stakeholders of the firm (employees) are supposed to have equal rights with the Shareholders of the firm. That is what is taught in U.S. universities, but in the real world America, Crony Capitalism prevails. Because of Crony Capitalism, the only form of legal recourse is class action lawsuits. In Europe, where there is stringent government business regulation, class action lawsuits are unheard of.
Mar 9, 2013 at 10:55 a.m.
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wislady, at what cost to taxpayers is it no longer GOOD news?
Mar 9, 2013 at 9:16 a.m.
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A Janesville plant expanding, more jobs...it is GOOD news.
Mar 9, 2013 at 8:38 a.m.
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Maine
Your link to a website (started in 2007), seems to indicate their only goal is to attack corporations.
"Corporations and Health Watch, whose website was launched in 2007, seeks to provide a forum where researchers, public health professionals, advocates and others can exchange information and compare strategies to reduce the harm from corporate practices across industries and countries. Ultimately, our goals are to identify the common characteristics of successful campaigns to change corporate practices, and to contribute to a growing movement to improve health by changing corporate practices."
I didn't see the link on their site that shows who funds this group.
Mar 9, 2013 at 7:47 a.m.
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A portrait arises of mayors/governors who are desperate to create jobs, outmatched by multinational corporations and short on tools to fact-check what companies tell them. Many of the officials said they feared that companies would move jobs overseas if they did not get subsidies in the U.S. Over the years, corporations have increasingly exploited that fear, creating a high-stakes bazaar where they pit local officials against one another to get the most lucrative packages. States compete with other states, cities compete with surrounding suburbs, and even small towns have entered the race with the goal of defeating their neighbors. The Times further observed that for many communities, “the payouts add up to a substantial chunk of their overall spending. Oklahoma and West Virginia give up amounts equal to about one-third of their budgets, and Maine allocates nearly a fifth.” As national, state and local officials debate about how best to balance revenues and expenses, corporate subsidies deserve further scrutiny. CHW readers can visit the Times searchable database to examine their states’ record or the subsidies received by corporations they are tracking (Source:CorporationsAndHealth.org).
Mar 9, 2013 at 6 a.m.
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When a city expands and grows it is necessary to put in roads, traffic lights and sewer systems. This is good news as it means the city is attractive for jobs, not only in the end result but in the construction phase. It's positive for Janesville.
Mar 9, 2013 at 4:25 a.m.
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~50 jobs at ~30K annually is $1.5 million additional payroll every year. The new construction will increase the overall Janesville tax base by $5 million, and the new tax income will probably be around $125,000 annually, almost all of which -- the current tax bill is just $175.00 -- will go into the TIF 21 ledger, paying off the investment by the city in five years or so (ultimately it will allow the TIF to retire in the black, and future revenue then goes directly to the city and school district). Finally, the existing GOEX site becomes available to Prent, the city continues to collect taxes there, and Prent may be able to add new jobs when it expands its own facilities.
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Even in the unlikely situation that GOEX fails to complete this facility or goes belly-up or moves away, the city's investment -- like the rail spur -- could prove attractive to another company looking for those amenities.
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I think this has good, solid upside for the city.
Mar 8, 2013 at 11:41 p.m.
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And about 1.6 million for 63 new jobs. What?
Mar 8, 2013 at 10:55 p.m.
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Happy about this news but am somewhat baffled that the very people who support the Right Wing agenda (Prent owners) would accept taxpayer money for this business venture. The money being given pales in comparison to the money they already have. It's really shameful on their part. There are people in their very communities who are struggling.
Mar 8, 2013 at 6:51 p.m.
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Who is watchin this. 14 years ago the city paid Rock County market price for 24 acres of land and sold it for a buck. Now GOEX wants another 560,000 from Janesville plus the same from a State grant. The only development on this parcel has been goose blinds. Gazette: Please do some research into TIF District 21. Let us know how the taxpayer has faired,
and if not are there protections for us.
Mar 8, 2013 at 6:40 p.m.
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This is great news!
Mar 8, 2013 at 6:31 p.m.
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Good news!
Mar 8, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.
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OUTSTANDING!
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