A state board on Friday approved a $1.1 million tax rebate for a "key infrastructure company" to build a $5 million unit in Salt Lake City rather than Rock Springs, Wyo.

Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP is considering building a new air separation unit in Salt Lake and sought $2.5 million from Utah. The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board approved a $1.1 million rebate for the project, which would add 43 new full-time jobs paying an average of $64,083 — or 224 percent of the county median — and add $3.7 million in state revenue over 10 years.

"To get 224 percent in the valley here is quite unusual," said Michael Nelson, in charge of corporate recruitment and incentives for GOED.

The unit would produce liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen by liquefaction and distillation of air. It would have several customers, including oil and gas industry customers in Utah and western Wyoming, and serve as a backup supply for an Air Liquide facility in Lehi that serves IM Flash Technologies.

Salt Lake City is offering a low-interest loan of $250,000 to $600,000.

Air Liquide is a French company providing industrial and medical gases and related services, including oxygen used in hospitals and liquid nitrogen used in the frozen food industry. It has 35,000 employees worldwide and has been in Utah more than 40 years.

In a prepared statement Friday, the company called the incentive "a strong vote of confidence from the state."

"Air Liquide has always left its options open relative to building a new facility to serve industries in Utah, western Wyoming and western Colorado," it said. "However, it will review this incentive, along with other opportunities relative to the proposed air separation unit to be built near Salt Lake City ,and will render a decision shortly."

The board Friday approved two other financial incentives, including:

• A $400,000 Industrial Assistance Fund grant to help Cedar City complete a redundant broadband network fiber optic line from Newcastle into the city. Cedar City will provide $827,973, and the contractor will provide $1.4 million.

"We did a similar project up in Logan that was extremely successful," acting board chairman Mark Howell said.

• A $275,000 rebate from the Motion Picture Incentive Fund for Game Plan Films LLC to shoot a movie titled "Jake's Run" in the Salt Lake area. The company is expecting to spend $2.9 million in Utah, or 64 percent of the film budget of $4.5 million. The film will be distributed by 20th Century Fox and released to theaters in September.

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