Rapid Prototyping & Engineering is located at Commerce Parkway in Franklin. Photo provided
A Franklin machining and fabrication company has received its fifth tax abatement from the city to help a new customer product launch.
The Franklin City Council approved a five-year tax abatement with a 5% economic development fee on $982,437.90 in personal property investment for Rapid Prototyping & Engineering Inc., 1424 Commerce Parkway. The abatement will support the specific equipment needed for the new customer and help expand the work the company does, said Dana Monson, community development specialist for the city.
Company officials stated in their application the abatement is necessary because, as the processes for the new customer’s product are developed, the new equipment won’t generate revenue. The abatement will ease the financial burden of the process and employee development, according to the tax abatement application. The company is expanding with its current 12,000-square-foot facility.
The company has received four tax abatements over the last six years: a pair of seven-year real property and five-year personal property tax abatements with a 5% and 2% economic development fee in 2018, a five-year personal property abatement with a 5% economic development fee in 2019 and a five-year real property abatement with a 2% economic development fee in 2023.
This time, the company requested a seven-year abatement for the equipment. However, the Franklin Economic Development Commission decided on a five-year abatement instead because members felt that number was more appropriate, based on the investment numbers. The city council agreed and approved the abatement with a vote of 6-0, with member Shawn Taylor being absent.
With the newly approved tax abatement, Rapid Prototyping & Engineering will retain the 20 current jobs at its facility and add one new job at an average of $26 per hour, a rate approximately $5 above the county’s average wage for all industries in 2023 at $21.75. The salary will be $75,000 per year.
The company will save $37,526 in taxes with the abatement while still paying $21,421, according to tax estimates compiled by the city. Monson said the tax rates and assessed value change every year, so the estimates are only if the rate didn’t change and no assessed values change.
Since the company moved to Franklin in 2018, the city and Rapid Prototyping & Engineering have developed a relationship.
“They have been an excellent partner with the city,” Monson said at Monday’s city council meeting. “Their CF-1 forms have always been great. They’ve just done very, very well, been very, very successful here.”
Mayor Steve Barnett was supportive of the abatement application based on the company’s relationship with the city and the number of residents who are employed at the facility. With one new job planned, Barnett was supportive of a five-year abatement.
At Monday’s meeting, he also referenced a separate project the company is doing to create a soccer field at the site, which is a project associated with the 2023 abatement.
“My point is this is a good company and a good group of people that tries to make things happen,” Barnett said. “I appreciate the work you guys do here.”
The 2023 abatement was to create flex space at their property, which allowed Rapid Prototyping to free up space for a sports training business. The business was approved for a variance in October 2023 to create an indoor-outdoor sports training facility at the site in areas that were formerly used as storage for Rapid Prototyping and were rented to Indiana MENTOR.
The training facility, dubbed The Training Ground, offers soccer, basketball and volleyball training as well as special programming.
