Plastikon easily wins approval from city committee

A project to locate a high-tech plastics manufacturing firm in the East Hills Business Park continues its roll through City Hall without objection.

The city’s Public Incentives Review Commission unanimously recommended approval on Wednesday of $63,000 worth of incentives for Plastikon Industries to locate its new facility in Lawrence.

“This is exactly the type of project we’ve been looking for,” Mayor Mike Amyx said.

The California-based company has proposed purchasing the former Serologicals building in East Hills and converting it into a facility that produces plastic vials to be used in health labs across the world.

The project is expected to create about 50 jobs when it opens in mid-2011, and job totals are projected to grow to 126 positions within three years. The jobs are expected to have an average annual salary of $58,000, with none having a starting salary below $30,000.

The city and county are being asked to provide about $63,000 in job training grant money. The amount would be split equally between the city and county and would be paid to the company over a five-year period.

The project is not seeking a tax abatement.

Roger Zalneraitis, economic development coordinator for the city, told the committee that the project is expected to generate from $2.5 million to $3 million in new revenue for the city, county and Lawrence school district in the next 15 years. The total amount will be dependent on the total taxable value of the company’s building. The taxable value of the vacant Serologicals building may go down because Plastikon has signed a deal to purchase it for about $2.5 million, which is significantly less than the $11.5 million tax appraisal for the building.

The project now will go to city and county commissioners for final approval.