New company in Bluffton receives tax abatements

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

IQ Fiber LLC, an innovative manufacturer of consistent high quality and environmental friendly cellulose fiber products, is opening a new manufacturing facility at 1000 W. Wiley Avenue in Bluffton. IQ Fibers will create up to 36 new jobs by 2021.

IQ Fibers will utilize approximately 40,000 square feet in the former Sterling Casting Buildings, currently owned by Persifull Properties, LLC. IQ Fibers will invest more than $4.7 million for the purchase of equipment in at the facility on Bluffton’s west side. IQ Fibers has also made significant improvements to the site.

The state-of-the-art plant enables the company to consistently manufacture technically-superior cellulose fiber products and easily serve contractors, distributors, and government agencies in the Midwest U.S. and international markets.

“This is an exciting day for the team here at IQ Fibers,” said George Day, CEO of IQ Fibers. “We are extremely proud of our facility and our product line of cellulose fiber products. Our management team has extensive expertise in the industry and has in-depth installer experience, providing us with a thorough understanding of the challenges and needs of our customers. With the market demand for more environmentally friendly solutions, we believe this is the right time and place to launch our company.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered IQ Fibers up to $290,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.

The city of Bluffton approved tax abatements on equipment during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Bluffton Common Council.

The company is spending $4.7 million on new equipment and $34,300 on used equipment. The city was asked to abate the new equipment for 10 years and the used equipment for five years. The 10-year abatement will be 100 percent the first year, 90 percent the second year, and so forth; the five-year abatement will be on a 100-80-60-42-20 percent scale for the length of the abatement.

The five members of the Common Council voted to approve IQ Fiber’s tax abatement requests.