First Procter & Gamble and now the Hershey Co.

The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board, fresh from landing a P&G plant for Box Elder County, on Friday approved what they hope is a sweet incentive to land a Western distribution center for the giant candymaking company.

The board also approved an incentive for a food manufacturing facility, and the company said immediately after the meeting that it will put the plant at Business Depot Ogden.

The Hershey distribution center also would be at BDO, and Utah is competing with Arizona and Nevada for the project, which would add 123 full-time jobs.

Hershey issued a statement after the meeting saying it is "evaluating various options as it realigns its distribution network to provide superior customer service. We appreciate the incentives offered by the city of Ogden and the state of Utah. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Economic Development Corp. of Utah and the Governor's Office of Economic Development as we further consider our options."

The state incentive would be a 20 percent rebate of certain taxes the project would create. Its maximum would be $2.6 million. Hershey would be required to keep the facility in Utah 10 years and pay at least 40 percent above the county median wage.

According to board documents, Hershey would outsource the jobs to a third party, but the wages are expected to average $36,829, which is 49 percent above the Weber County median. New state revenues would be $13 million over 10 years, and new state wages are projected at $48.8 million during that time. Hershey's capital investment would be $38 million.

Ogden, meanwhile, is working on a $3 million incentive that features land, rail and road infrastructure and utility improvements.

Board documents also indicate that the project would bring at least two partners that also would create jobs for the area.

Southern Classic Foods

The GOED board also approved a $300,000 incentive for Southern Classic Food Group LLC., a food manufacturer based in Alabama, for a plant in Ogden that would create 94 jobs.

The company immediately announced Ogden would get that facility, the company's second. One in Alabama has 120 workers.

"This new facility will create the opportunity to continue our growth plan," Chuck Caraway, president and managing member, said in a prepared statement. "We expect this will be a valuable step forward for some of our existing customers and at the same time put us in position to develop new relationships."

The initial facility would be 75,000 square feet of space leased for production and warehousing space, but the company said it has plans to double that in the future. The first-phase facility will produce about 40 million pounds of product annually, and eventually the plant production would top 100 million pounds.