EDA approves sales tax abatement, saving Helena nearly $300K

Company plans to spend $5M on new facility in Ridgeway

RIDGEWAY – Helena Chemical Company plans to break ground this year on a new $5 million complex at 3956 Allis Rd., a site along the railroad in Ridgeway, just off of Route 31.

The company will be spared paying sales tax for equipment and materials for the project. That move, approved today by the board for the Orleans Economic Development Agency, will save Helena $283,910 in sales tax.

The EDA sales tax exemption goes towards up to $3.6 million in taxable purchases for the new construction.

The company didn’t seek a property tax break for the project, which includes a 50,000-square-foot building this year, with plans for a railroad spur and mixing facility in 2017. Helena is planning to add six positions as part of the expansion, jobs that will pay an average of $57,100, according to EDA records.

Helena currently operates out of 10,000 square feet on Platt Street in Albion. It sells fertilizer, seeds and chemicals to farmers. The company will relocate to Ridgeway where it plans a six-building complex with 75,000 square feet. Helena will continue to work out of Albion this year while it settles into the new space.

“The move to Ridgeway will allow us to offer more products and services,” Mitch Wilber, Helena branch manager, previously stated. “The quality of the agriculture is what brought us here. There are good farmers growing good crops.”

Helena has headquarters just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, with 450 branch locations across the United States.