Uniek Inc. received approval from the Leflore County Board of Supervisors on Monday to apply for a tax exemption on finished goods that will be sold out of state.
If the state accepts the application, the company will be exempt from ad valorem taxes on these goods, which will be taxed in the other states. This way the company isn't taxed twice for the same items.
County board approval is required before the company can apply to the state for the exemption. Companies seeking this exemption must sell 35 percent of their products out of state, and Uniek's figure is about 95 percent, said Cliff Brumfield, executive director of the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board.
Brumfield and Billy Moore, general manager of Uniek's wood division, spoke to the supervisors on the subject.
The amount of tax savings varies with the inventory. Based on last year's inventory at the wood plant, the company could save about $30,000 in a year, Brumfield said.
Uniek had this exemption years ago but wanted to reapply for it, Brumfield said. Most of the other industries in town that sell goods out of state, such as Balkamp and Viking Range Corp., already have it, he said.
If the exemption is granted, the company can maintain it as long as it files required annual paperwork about the inventory, he said.
Uniek, formerly named National Picture & Frame Co., has 140 jobs at its wood frame plant now. Its plastic-frame plant was moved to Wisconsin earlier this year.
The company has continued to offer good benefits packages to its employees, Brumfield said.
Robert Moore, president of the board of the supervisors, told Billy Moore that he was interested in keeping as many jobs in the county as possible.
Billy Moore said the company is trying to build up its wood-frame sales as it enters its busiest time of the year in the fall. Marketers were in recently to look at the designs for the fall line and present them to the sales department, he said.
The market climate is "cautious" now, but if the recession doesn't have too much of an effect, sales should pick up, he said.
Brumfield also presented some numbers about the county's job gains and losses in recent months.
According to the most recent figures, the unemployment rate is 7.2 percent, and that is expected to increase with the loss of the Baldwin Piano & Organ plant.
Recent losses include about 300 jobs from the closing of Uniek's plastics plant, about 240 from the Baldwin closing and about 16 from Hickok.
However, Brumfield said he was optimistic because there also have been some expansions and job additions announced. These include more than 65 jobs at John Richard Collection, 100 at Viking Range Corp. and 80 at Heartland Catfish with more to come.
