Utah offers incentives to lure jobs

Ogden could land more than 650 jobs over 15 years and a Salt Lake company could add 200 jobs paying twice the county median wage if companies awarded state incentives Friday take the offers.

The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board awarded financial incentives to several companies during its meeting, including $8.3 million to Jet Aviation to develop a facility at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport that would maintain, repair and overhaul business aircraft and be a service center for certain aircraft and employee activities.

The incentive — in the form of an $8 million tax credit and a $294,000 Industrial Assistance Fund grant — would lead to at least 650 jobs paying 50 percent above the Weber County average. The $6.9 million capital investment would be at leased space formerly occupied by now-bankrupt Adam Aircraft.

Jerry Oldroyd, chairman of the board's incentives committee, said Jet Aviation would use all of Adam Aircraft's space and build a couple of hangars nearby.

"This is a real opportunity for Utah," Oldroyd said. "We've really targeted the Ogden-Hinckley Airport for this type of expansion — it was built for that — so this is a perfect, perfect fit for that operation."

Jet Aviation, a Swiss company, said in May that it has signed a letter of intent with Kemp Development Inc. of Ogden to have Jet Aviation Ogden in operation by this fall, adding up to 200 people over the next two years.

The company said at the time that its maintenance facility would be 70,000 square feet of hangars and workshops that would provide heavy maintenance, component repair, refurbishment and painting for mid- to large-cabin aircraft. Jet Aviation said it would assume the existing operations of Kemp Jet Services. The executive terminal, hangars and offices occupy 51,000 square feet and include the terminal, fueling, a pilot "snooze" room, a pilot lounge, weather and flight planning and an on-site restaurant.

The company has about 5,100 employees worldwide.

The GOED board on Friday also approved a $3 million tax credit incentive for Salt Lake City-based Boart Longyear to expand its corporate headquarters operations. The expansion would mean more than 200 new jobs, paying twice the county median wage, according to board documents.

Board documents indicate South Jordan would be the site of the expansion for the company, which has 9,700 employees worldwide involved in drilling services and products used in mining.