Potato starch co. promises up to $1M investment
The Washington-based Western Polymer Corp. has qualified for state economic development incentives based on its plans to invest up to $1 million in the former Aroostook Starch Co. in Fort Fairfield and hire up to five new employees in as many years.
Doug Ray, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development, said the company has qualified for tax breaks under the Pine Tree Development Zone program, making it eligible for a 100% credit on corporate income taxes due in years 1 through 5 and a 50% credit in years 6 through 10 of its eligibility. The company is also eligible for a sales tax exemption on personal property purchases and certain business activities for 10 years. If the company hires five people meeting certain wage and benefits thresholds, it can also get a payment for up to 80% of the state withholding taxes that eligible employees pay to the state.
The company said after buying the potato starch factory in July that it planned to hire back most of its previous workers, bringing about 10 people on staff. It is WPC's first starch manufacturing site in the eastern United States and the first, it said, that can produce food-grade potato starch. Its primary market has been providing industrial grade potato starch used mainly in paper processing.
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