City support of business expansion won’t cost a penny
The Des Moines City Council will vote today to approve an economic development project and the price tag it carries for the city is $0. Jack Henry & Associates Inc. was awarded a $200,000 grant and an estimated $309,000 in tax incentives last week by the Iowa Economic Development Authority. The awards were conditioned on a resolution of support from the City Council. A financial sweetener also is a condition of the awards. In this case, the incentive is being supplied by a break in the rent from the Chicago-based owner of the Bank of America Building at 317 Sixth Ave., where Jack Henry plans to move and remodel as part of plans to expand operations at its Des Moines and Cedar Rapids offices. The company plans to create 30 software engineer positions and spend $7.4 million over the next years expanding its current operation. Jack Henry currently employs about 22 software engineers in Des Moines.