BEAR RIVER CITY — Four years ago, staffers from the governor's economic development staff sat down for a somewhat clandestine chat with people who would only give their first names — "Call me Matt" — to explore what might be a good economic opportunity for the Beehive State.
On Monday, both sides of that talk were among the 200 or so people celebrating the successful launch of that opportunity. Over time, the Utahns would learn, with delight, that the one-name guys worked for Procter & Gamble, which was looking for a site to build a distribution center and a manufacturing plant. Box Elder County was chosen, thanks to some state and local incentives, a great location and a desirable work force.
Jason Perry, who headed the Governor's Office of Economic Development at the time, laughed as he recalled the secrecy of the early meetings, before adding, "It's not every day you get to witness an economy-changing event."
The distribution center — with 400,000 square feet — is up and running with 120 employees. Another 70 will be added in the next few weeks. The manufacturing center, which will produce Charmin toilet tissue and Bounty paper towel products — will be completed later this year, said Kristin Daines, a P&G spokesman. The two centers, which are situated together on 750 acres across from pastureland, are a combined $300 million-plus project that will employ at least 300 people.
Dimitri Panayotopoulos, vice chairman of P&G's Global Household Care division, joked about that cost. The project site was a "big hole" when he came to Utah a year ago, albeit a very nice one. "Then they told me how much that hole cost and I got excited," he said.
The Box Elder project represents the first time in 30 years that the giant company, which is now 170 years old, has built a facility from the ground up instead of renovating or expanding, he said. The distribution center opening marks the closing of a leased facility in Seattle.
Gov. Gary Herbert called it a "very significant and important day for all of Utah" and beyond. He also said that "growth doesn't come from the government … it comes from the private sector. Sometimes what government can do for you is to do nothing … just get out of the way."
The physical layout is the first of its kind for the company, said Keith Harrison, global supply officer for P&G. Besides making use of natural sunlight and using other energy-efficient details like motion-controlled lights, the company is looking at geothermal opportunities.
Spencer Eccles, who now heads GOED, called the project "very big for Utah" and said the company has great family-oriented values that make it a particularly satisfying fit. His colleague, Derek Miller, said P&G was the first company in the United States to offer employees Saturday off and the first to offer profit-sharing.
P&G also presented Box Elder County commissioners with a check for $25,000 to help build a fine arts building at the county's fairgrounds.
Members of the GOED board were taken on a tour of the facility before the ceremony, which included speakers, refreshments and the signing of confidentiality agreements because of the competitive nature of a business like P&G, best known for popular household products like Tide and Gain detergents, Dawn dish soap, Oral B toothcare products, Pampers diapers and Oil of Olay, among a whole bunch of others.
e-mail: lois@desnews.com