There have been many great inventions since sliced bread, but Saline-based flatbread maker Flatout,Inc. is having some success in its attempt to one-up the original.
Saline City Council will decide at its meeting Monday night whether to grant Flatout an industrial facilities tax abatement for an expansion and improvements to the company’s manufacturing center.
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Flatout Bread owners Mike and Stacey Marsh plan to add new equipment at their Saline food manufacturing site.
File photo | AnnArbor.com
The biggest investment being made by the company will be in a new manufacturing “line” that will include a hopper, oven, cooling rack, counter stacker and crossroller. The personal property investments total $1,088,982 and are scheduled to be completed by April 1, 2015.
Flatout was founded by husband-and-wife team Mike and Stacey Marsh and started as an Ann Arbor sandwich shop in 1990. The company is now one of the region's largest food manufacturers, with sandwich wrap products sold in major grocery store chains, and approximately than 120 employees.
With its increased production capacity, Flatout said in its IFT application that it plans to add the equivalent of 10 new full-time jobs to the site that make at least $50,000 per year. Those jobs are in addition to the “retention” of 120 jobs already located at the facility and must be added by August 1, 2017.
Flatout is also making real property improvements to the site, upgrading the electrical equipment and improving the parking lot. Those projects are predicted to cost $470,000 and should also be completed by April 2015.
As part of the agreement, Flatout will be required to submit annual certification to the city of Saline noting the number of full-time equivalent jobs at the facility with an indication of their annual pay range.
The city can revoke the IFT abatement agreement if it determines that the installation of the personal property has not been completed on time or that employment goals have not been met.
Flatout last made major upgrades to its automated processing facility in 2010. The company has ongoing IFT abatements on real and personal property from that investment that expire in 2015 that are still worth approximately $350,000.
According to city records, Flatout Inc., formerly Pattco Inc. purchased the property at 1422 Woodland Drive. in 2003 for $1.05 million. The real property value of the site was assessed at $568,200 in 2013 giving it an estimated market value of $1.14 million.
Saline City Council will hear public comment on the IFT abatement at its meeting Monday night before voting on whether to grant the exemption.
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Get in touch with Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2
