Express Scripts gets state bait
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
October 21, 2009
By Tim Bryant
A $3 million state incentive approved Tuesday raises to $7 million the amount of public aid offered Express Scripts to build a $60 million drug distribution plant near its headquarters in north St. Louis County.
The pharmacy benefits manager has yet to decide whether to locate the facility, which will employ nearly 270, at the NorthPark business park or in suburban Philadelphia.
On Tuesday, the Missouri Development Finance Board approved $3 million in bonds to help lure Express Scripts to NorthPark, which is across Interstate 70 from the company's main offices. The board gave the matter preliminary approval in August.
An Express Scripts spokeswoman said the company appreciates the board's action but has yet to decide where to put the plant.
Pennsylvania is offering to eliminate state and local property taxes for 10 years if the company puts the plant in Bucks County, Pa., near Philadelphia.
Missouri issues incentives to firms that expand in the state. For Express Scripts, the development board issued $3 million in Build Missouri Bonds -- essentially a corporate income tax credit spread over 15 years.
In addition, the St. Louis County Council has approved a plan to forgive half of the new real estate and personal property taxes for 10 years on the project, Denny Coleman, president of the St. Louis County Economic Council, has said. That could be worth $4 million.
To make NorthPark more attractive to Express Scripts, the business park's developers are constructing a building on the 12-acre site where the company told the state it would want the facility to be.
Express Scripts hopes to open the plant in April.
