Oct 20, 2021

Commission approves incentive package for Prime Company

Posted Oct 20, 2021 12:01 PM

By Scott Edger 
Little Apple Post 

At its regularly scheduled meeting October 19, the Manhattan City Commission unanimously approved a measure that is expected to bring more than a dozen good jobs to Manhattan.  

The incentive package for multifamily housing development group The Prime Company contains $381,485 from various state programs and tax exemptions, and $65,000, or $5,000 per job, from the City. 

In discussions over the second and final consideration of an economic development agreement with Prime, Jason Hilgers, deputy city manager, told commissioners that Prime has pledged to bring a minimum of 13 jobs to the area over the next eight years.  

“We gave them 10 years,” Hilgers said, “they said they could do it in eight, so we will look to track those.”  

The City anticipates Prime investing over $1.3 million in a new facility and relocation costs. 

Prime intends to locate its headquarters at 3804 Vanesta Drive in northwest Manhattan, in a facility projected to cost $894,000.  

Manhattan Mayor Wynn Butler noted that the public is often reticent to fund economic development simply based on a number of jobs being created. He said that Prime projects the jobs it is bringing to the area pay an average of $71,000 per year. 

“People worry about us bringing in companies that pay less than a living wage,” Butler said, â€śbut this fits our economic development strategy and is an excellent use of those funds.” 

Commissioner Linda Morse insisted that administrators clarify that the wage levels and carefully track actual job creation.  

“We will look at each job created and make sure the wage is where they anticipated,” Hilgers responded.  

Prime is a Kansas business that has proven success well beyond the state and region. According to Hilger, providing the incentive package to Prime aligns perfectly with the City’s economic development strategies and goals.  

The company was founded in 2005, “and really went national from there,” Hilgers said. â€śThis is a homegrown company doing business nationally. 

Hilgers assured that Prime will not be receiving money for pie-in-the-sky promises. The incentives from the City will not be paid up front in a lump sum. The agreement states that Prime will receive a payment of $5,000 for each job created in a given year.   

The project is expected to bring talent back to Manhattan, as the company plans to already relocate a handful of highly skilled employees to the city. 

Incentive funding for this development endeavor comes from the 2012 Renewal-Economic Development Fund.