The Economic Development Corp. of Jefferson County announced Thursday that Western Foods has satisfied the terms of their agreement and the loan they received in 2017 has been forgiven.
Nancy McNew, vice-president of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County told Deltaplex News that the company received $280,750 from the EDC (commonly known as the tax board) when they located in Pine Bluff.
In receiving the money, the company had to agree to certain conditions which included the creation of new jobs and make capital improvements which totaled $20 million.
McNew said the company, which makes gluten-free flour, actually exceeded the required number of jobs created with 60 new positions created.
The tax board was created to administer the three-eights cent sales tax approved by Jefferson County voters in 2011 for economic development. That tax, which ended in 2018, has been used to help businesses located in Jefferson County or looking to locate in the county offset the costs of capital expansion projects and create new jobs.
