The Cookeville Industrial Development Board approved a compliance extension involving Aphena Pharmaceuticals during its meeting Wednesday.
Board Counsel Kent Moore said the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development previously issued a grant to the company that is processed through the board as a conduit. Moore said the state and Aphena reached the extension agreement due to the impact of COVID-19.
“The State and Aphena have come together and agreed they’re going to extend their compliance deadlines a couple of years,” Moore said, “They’re not extending job numbers or anything like that.”
Moore said the new compliance period for the grant will shift from years four through seven to years five through eight. Moore said the agreement is strictly between the state and the company, meaning there is no financial recourse or liability for the Industrial Development Board.
“There’s a formula in there where they take those four compliance years, they discard the lowest employment number of those four, average the three, and then that will determine what sort of repayment, if any, that they will need to pay back on the grant to the state,” Moore said.
Chairman Bob Bell said the board is acting as a vehicle for the state’s action and the extension does not affect existing tax incentive agreements between the board and Aphena. Bell said the board needed to approve the document to consent to the state’s timeline changes.
“The wording implies legally they’re simply enacting a COVID extenuating circumstance and stretching it,” Bell said. “If I read it correctly, that’s really all legally it’s doing.”
Moore said the document provided by the state required minor editorial corrections before final execution. Moore said the state mistakenly identified the board as the Clarksville-Montgomery County Industrial Development Board and listed a former official as the point of contact.
The board also recognized outgoing Cookeville Mayor Laurin Wheaton during her final meeting as a member of the body. Bell said the region experienced significant industrial growth and new business development during Wheaton’s term.
“Thank you for let me be a part of this. It’s been an honor, y’all do some amazing work,” Wheaton said.
The board moved into a private attorney-client session following the public vote to receive a briefing on another organization.
