Boone County commissioners have voted to finalize a tax abatement for the 16th-largest employer in Columbia/Boone County.
The Kraft Heinz plant on Columbia’s Waco road is the only plant in North America that makes Oscar Mayer hot dogs. The company plans $92-million in improvements to their plant in the next five years. Commissioners have approved a 75 percent abatement of property taxes on those improvements, which 939 the Eagle’s Mike Murphy reports will save the company about $3.75 million over the next decade. Mr. Murphy was at Thursday’s commission meeting.
Kraft Heinz plans to modernize the plant and replace three packaging lines. Kraft Heinz currently has 450 employees, according to the latest numbers from Columbia Regional Economic Development Incorporated (REDI). The plant is located on Columbia’s food corridor, which also has Swift Foods and Nabisco.