MONROE - Wisconsin Secretary of Agriculture Rod Nilsestuen was in the city Thursday to announce three initiatives proposed in Gov. Jim Doyle's State of the State address that he said need to stay in the budget next year.
Nilsestuen met with representatives from local dairy and cheese industries as well as elected county officials at Greenco Industries, Monroe, to promote two dairy and food processing modernization tax credits and the Clean Energy Jobs Act.
Nilsestuen said he chose to make his announcement in Green County, because "no place says food and cheese like Monroe and this area."
"South Central Wisconsin, like no place else, has a cluster of food processing and distribution companies, which are the strength of the state," Nilsestuen said. "We'd like to have at least the business climate for Wisconsin that we have here."
With agriculture and food industries making up one in every 10 jobs in the state, the proposed tax credits and Clean Energy Jobs Act, as part of a comprehensive set of strategies, would allow the state to have a significant impact over the state's industrial climate, he said.
"The new tax credits, along with environmental regulations, are designed to provide opportunities in food and agriculture, so Wisconsin can be the best business success it can be," Nilsestuen said.
"It's a two-prong approach, growing and diversifying," he added.
With input from farmers, Wisconsin has removed barriers to agricultural growth, promoted unity in the dairy livestock industry, and set up rules for livestock sites, which, Nilsestuen said, "not only maintain environmental standards, but predict for farmers, their neighbors and the community a green light to more production."
The food processing and distribution modernization tax credit would allow a 10 percent credit on investments up to $200,000 per facility.
The dairy modernization tax credit extends the existing credit for two more years, and increases each eligible claim would from $50,000 to $75,000, with no cap on total claims.
The multi-faceted Clean Energy Jobs Act, State Senate Bill 450 and State Assembly Bill 649, is expected to reduce Wisconsin's $16 million out-of-state purchases of coal, natural gas and petroleum and promote use of more energy created in the state, according to information provided by Nilsestuen's staff. It is also predicted to create a minimum of 15,000 new jobs in construction, manufacturing and agriculture by 2025, the information stated.
Nilsestuen said he expects the two bills now in the state legislature "will come out as a changed sausage, but the main components will remain."
Greenco provides a work force and an FDA and USDA inspected facility equipped to handle a variety of food and other packaging, sealing and labeling, as well as product assembly, janitorial services and quality inspections.
The new tax credit initiatives cannot not be used by Greenco, because it is a non-profit organization, but Jean Zweifel, Chief Executive Officer at Greenco, is already thinking of ways it could benefit the program.
"I would suspect companies who can use the credit could buy equipment to be used here," she said.
Greenco Industries, which provides work, social and academic skills, and daycare for adults with disabilities, has seen a shortage of work projects requests as manufacturing companies pull back their production.
Zweifel hopes any benefit from any tax incentives for their clients eventually will find its way to Greenco's workers.
"Our workers get paid for everything they do, and eventually some of them even go to work out in the community," she added.
Zweifel said Greenco does food packaging, because "there's a lot of food here (Green County), and we didn't think it would go away."
Nilsestuen met with representatives from local dairy and cheese industries as well as elected county officials at Greenco Industries, Monroe, to promote two dairy and food processing modernization tax credits and the Clean Energy Jobs Act.
Nilsestuen said he chose to make his announcement in Green County, because "no place says food and cheese like Monroe and this area."
"South Central Wisconsin, like no place else, has a cluster of food processing and distribution companies, which are the strength of the state," Nilsestuen said. "We'd like to have at least the business climate for Wisconsin that we have here."
With agriculture and food industries making up one in every 10 jobs in the state, the proposed tax credits and Clean Energy Jobs Act, as part of a comprehensive set of strategies, would allow the state to have a significant impact over the state's industrial climate, he said.
"The new tax credits, along with environmental regulations, are designed to provide opportunities in food and agriculture, so Wisconsin can be the best business success it can be," Nilsestuen said.
"It's a two-prong approach, growing and diversifying," he added.
With input from farmers, Wisconsin has removed barriers to agricultural growth, promoted unity in the dairy livestock industry, and set up rules for livestock sites, which, Nilsestuen said, "not only maintain environmental standards, but predict for farmers, their neighbors and the community a green light to more production."
The food processing and distribution modernization tax credit would allow a 10 percent credit on investments up to $200,000 per facility.
The dairy modernization tax credit extends the existing credit for two more years, and increases each eligible claim would from $50,000 to $75,000, with no cap on total claims.
The multi-faceted Clean Energy Jobs Act, State Senate Bill 450 and State Assembly Bill 649, is expected to reduce Wisconsin's $16 million out-of-state purchases of coal, natural gas and petroleum and promote use of more energy created in the state, according to information provided by Nilsestuen's staff. It is also predicted to create a minimum of 15,000 new jobs in construction, manufacturing and agriculture by 2025, the information stated.
Nilsestuen said he expects the two bills now in the state legislature "will come out as a changed sausage, but the main components will remain."
Greenco provides a work force and an FDA and USDA inspected facility equipped to handle a variety of food and other packaging, sealing and labeling, as well as product assembly, janitorial services and quality inspections.
The new tax credit initiatives cannot not be used by Greenco, because it is a non-profit organization, but Jean Zweifel, Chief Executive Officer at Greenco, is already thinking of ways it could benefit the program.
"I would suspect companies who can use the credit could buy equipment to be used here," she said.
Greenco Industries, which provides work, social and academic skills, and daycare for adults with disabilities, has seen a shortage of work projects requests as manufacturing companies pull back their production.
Zweifel hopes any benefit from any tax incentives for their clients eventually will find its way to Greenco's workers.
"Our workers get paid for everything they do, and eventually some of them even go to work out in the community," she added.
Zweifel said Greenco does food packaging, because "there's a lot of food here (Green County), and we didn't think it would go away."