CalStar, an eco-friendly brick/masonry manufacturer, ended production at its Lowndes County facility on Oct. 2.
Local officials say the shut-down will have little negative affect on the county’s bottom line. The county owns the building CalStar operated out of at the Golden Triangle Industrial Park.
“We don’t really lose anything,” Lowndes County Board of Supervisors President Harry Sanders said. “Although we did take out a loan to buy the building, we didn’t put any money into this, so this shouldn’t be a real problem for us. We already have a couple of companies that are interested in the property and I think CalStar was also talking to another company about taking over the building, so we don’t believe the building will be empty for too long.”
In July 2013, supervisors voted to secure a $5.35 million low-interest 20-year loan from the Mississippi Development Authority to purchase and renovate the 23-acre site. The purchase was made so Wisconsin-based CalStar could open its second facility at the site.
The lease agreement was signed in 2013 and production began in January 2014. At the time, company officials said 17 jobs would be created immediately, growing to 58 jobs within three years. The company said it would invest $8 million in the Lowndes County operation.
In its agreement with CalStar, the county agreed to provide the company with a 10-year exemption from county taxes, although the company was still required to pay taxes to the Lowndes County School District and community college district, as well as a small amount of taxes on the equipment it owns in the facility.
Lowndes County tax assessor Greg Andrew said the company paid its 2014 taxes, which came to $54,329 and — since it was still in operation as of March 31 — will owe taxes for 2015.
Macauley Whitaker, the vice president of internal & external affairs at the Golden Triangle Regional Development LINK, provided some information on the shut-down.
Whitaker said the company turned over its assets to it creditors. At the time of the shutdown, the company had 29 workers at the Lowndes County facility. The lease payments are being made by the bank that took over the company’s assets.
County administrator Ralph Billingsley said the company is current on its $30,000-per-month lease.
“They were a little late making October’s payment, but they paid their November payment on time,” Billinglsey said.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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