MONTROSE, Colo.—Russell Stover Candies has been offered a package of incentives to encourage it to expand its plant here.
The company known for its boxed chocolates is considering expanding two of its four factories around the country. A final decision on whether the plant in Montrose will get an estimated $5 million, 50,000-square-foot expansion will come in the spring.
The Montrose Economic Development Corp. has been working with the city and the county to offer a package of incentives for an expansion, said Sandy Head, executive director of MEDC.
The City Council has earmarked $10,000 in economic incentives for Stover, while the county could offer up to a 50 percent rebate on the county’s portion of property tax for new construction. County commissioners have agreed in principle to the incentive, but have not officially voted on it.
The plant fills about 480 jobs. Head said the expansion could add up to 15 jobs that pay between $16 and $20 an hour with benefits.
Russell Stover Candies opened its plant in Montrose in 1973. The plant produces more than 12 million pounds of candy, plant manager Paul Minerich said.
The plant manufactures and ships products to much of the western U.S. The company has plants in Kansas and Texas, but candies such as those stuffed with cream ship better over high mountain passes from Montrose because of the town’s altitude, Minerich said.
“You make a lot of those items at sea level and they crack from the (air) pressure,” he said. “We do a bigger variety at this location than the other plants.”
