Industrial Board Denies PILOT Application

Cookeville’s Industrial Development Board denied a healthcare company’s request for a tax incentive during its quarterly meeting Wednesday.

Chairperson Bob Bell said the board denied the application because the company did not meet the eligibility requirements for the incentive.

“I imagine that one is, would not reapply because they just did not meet, we are an industrial development board and this was an application that did not meet the criteria for PILOT applications,” Bell said. “They were not industrial.”

Bell said the board also discussed the positive economic health and low unemployment rate of the Cookeville area. Bell said despite the low availability of labor they will continue to search for companies that could come to the area and compete with existing businesses.

“We’d always love to bring in a company that can ratchet up existing wage rates and higher-paying jobs,” Bell said. “So that’s always something we think about when we consider applications from companies.”

Bell said they are also keeping an eye on the availability of existing land that can serve as building sites for future industrial growth.

“That depends a lot of the kind of company it is,” Bell said. “Some of them have much more specific requirements than others.”

Bell said the board also amended its PILOT agreement with Aphena Pharma Solutions to improve the description of the job creation process there.