County council expected to greenlight tax credit for new biotech facility
Jun. 15—The Frederick County Council will consider Tuesday whether to support providing a nearly $400,000 tax credit to a biopharmaceutical company planning to construct facilities at Progress Labs at Executive Court off state Route 85.
The tax credit is a condition of a $2 million loan from the state's commerce department to assist the company, Australian-based Ellume Ltd., which creates at-home test kits for infectious diseases, like COVID-19, to be sent all over the world.
If the council approves the tax credit, which Councilman Phil Dacey (R) said it's likely to do unanimously, the state will be free to release the loan.
Ellume will add to Frederick's culture as a state leader in biotechnology, Dacey said, and it will bring economic growth to the county for years to come. The company's announcement in early May that it was locating its first U.S. facility in Frederick County was hailed by local leaders.
Helen Propheter, executive director for the county's office of economic development, highlighted the importance of the council's decision in moving the process forward.
"Elected officials play an important part in bringing business to Frederick County," she said.
If Ellume honors the conditions of the state's loan, Propheter said, it will bring to the county 1,500 jobs by the end of 2022, several hundred of which will become available immediately after construction is completed near the end of 2021.
The tax credit is "in the best interest of the citizens and community at large," Propheter said in a letter she addressed to council in May in support of the tax credit.
The commerce department's loan program, Advantage Maryland, requires that the county pay 10 percent of the loan amount to Ellume in support of the project.
The state has long required a 10 percent contribution and support from local government in order to grant a loan to a new or expanding business, County Executive Jan Gardner (D) said in an email to the News-Post.
Frederick County frequently turns to the type of tax credit used in this project to satisfy that contribution, Gardner said.
The county's payments will be spread over six years, but initially front-loaded to meet the 10 percent requirement stipulated by the Advantage Maryland loan with three years.
By project's end, Ellume is projected to accrue $106 million in costs associated with infrastructure, improvements to the buildings, machinery and equipment.
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
