Manufacturer eyes 200-job, $20M expansion

A Lancaster County manufacturer may be on the verge of expanding to create 200 new jobs here in the coming months.
No one will publically identify the company, which is being referred to as “Project Dumpling” by the Lancaster County Economic Development Department.
Members of Lancaster County Council unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance Tuesday night that will allow the proposed $20 million expansion to move forward.
Economic Development Director Jamie Gilbert said local officials have been working to land the project for more than a year.
“Dumpling is looking to invest $20 million in a facility that would create 200 new jobs,” Gilbert said.
The company, which already has an existing 20-year fee-in-lieu-of-tax (FILOT) agreement with the county, has been offered several incentives.
One incentive is a 30-year FILOT that gives the business a 6 percent assessment on real and personal property at a fixed millage rate of 317.6 mils. Another is a 15-year special source revenue credit (SSRC) that is 70 percent for six years, 65 percent for years seven through 11 and 60 percent in the final four years.
Gilbert said if the company does expand, the existing 20-year FILOT would be extended an additional 10 years.
The economic development department has also agreed to help secure grant funds needed for $1.2 million in improvements to an existing county road tied to the expansion. Those funds, he said, would require a 20 percent local match.
“There will be some commitment from the county with that grant,” he said.
The local ED office has already secured $350,000 in utility tax credits from Duke Energy and Comporium Communications for the project.
Council meetings are normally held on the second and fourth Monday of each month. The first meeting in November was shifted to Tuesday since Monday was Veterans Day, which the county now recognizes as a holiday.

By Greg Summers, Staff Reporter with The Lancaster News