Thule To Add 30 Jobs, Renovate Seymour Office

PHOTO: Jodie MozdzerThule, an international company known for its roof racks and bike carriers, is planning a $1.6 million renovation of its Seymour headquarters to make room for 30 new employees over the next three years. 

The company will be the first in Seymour to receive a new tax incentive for the project. 

Fred Clark, president for Thule Northeast, presented the plans to the Seymour Board of Selectmen last week. 

We ran out of office space,” Clark said before the meeting. 

The company has a 110,000-square-foot facility on Silvermine Road in Seymour. 

About 20,000 square feet of that space is office space, Clark said. The rest is manufacturing space. Thule has been headquartered in Seymour since 1992. 

He said the renovations will use the existing space in a more efficient way to make room for about 40 more employees to work there. 

Under the tax incentive program, approved by the Seymour Board of Selectmen in March, Thule will save about $45,000 over the next two years, First Selectman Kurt Miller said. 

That includes about a 75 percent abatement on property taxes for the project, as well as about $20,000 in fee waivers for the building process. 

Thule can qualify for more tax abatements under the program if the company hires Seymour residents as part of the 30 new jobs, and if it uses Seymour businesses to complete the work, Miller said. 

It’s been very nice to work with them,” Miller said at the meeting Tuesday, June 5. 

Seymour’s Economic Development Director Fred A. Messore said he has been working with Thule’s executives for the past couple of months on the plans.

We felt it would be a great candidate for the tax incentive plan, to kick it off,” Messore said. 

Messore said he hoped the approval Tuesday would encourage more companies to expand or move to Seymour to take advantage of the tax incentives. 

This being the first application, I think others will take note of it,” Messore said. 

Messore said town officials hope the tax incentives will help fill other vacant spots in town, including Tri-Town Plaza, where an independent grocer has shown interest.

The plan allows Seymour to offer tax breaks for different types of businesses — including retail, restaurants, marinas, and even assisted living facilities.
Previous tax incentive plans in town only offered tax breaks for manufacturing uses.

Keep local reporting alive. Donate.ValleyIndy.org