Hoover council grants more tax incentives for Riverchase dental implant company

The Hoover City Council tonight gave a dental implant company based in Riverchase about $176,000 worth of tax abatements in exchange for a $2.5 million investment in an expansion project.

BioHorizons Implant Systems, which has been headquartered in Hoover about 14 years, plans to add about 11,000 square feet to the 72,000 square feet it already has in the Riverchase Office Park so it can begin packaging some of its products in Riverchase instead of outsourcing the packaging to a company in Minnesota.

The expansion should add about 20 jobs to the 200-person workforce already in Hoover over the next two years, said Todd Strong, BioHorizons’ chief operating officer. The company has about 600 employees worldwide, he said.

The Hoover City Council agreed to eliminate an estimated $140,000 worth of sales taxes related to construction of the addition and an estimated $36,000 worth of non-educational property taxes over the next 10 years.

That means the city of Hoover would lose about $87,000 worth of taxes, and Shelby County and the state of Alabama would lose about $89,000 collectively, said Greg Knighton, the city’s of Hoover’s economic developer.

However, the expansion project should generate just shy of $119,000 in other taxes to the city of Hoover over the next 10 years, including $91,690 in property taxes for Hoover City Schools, Knighton said.

“We’re very excited that another Hoover business is growing and expanding,” he said.

And BioHorizons is in one of the industries the city of Hoover is targeting for growth — the life sciences/medical technology industry, Knighton said. This expansion will add skilled jobs with an expected average salary for new employees of about $60,000, he said.

Strong said these tax abatements will allow BioHorizons to build the infrastructure required to package some of its products in-house, shorten its production timeline and lessen the company’s dependence on a single-source provider.

Derrick Murphy, chairman of the council’s Commerce and Economic Development Committee, said this was a good opportunity for the city to help a company grow in a time when other businesses have been shut down in conjunction with the COVID-19 pandemic and impacted negatively by labor shortages.

“To have a company continue to thrive and grow and put something back into our community is commendable,” Murphy said. “They’ve been a healthy company — growth-minded, and they’re here to stay.”

These types of technology jobs are critical for the survival of Hoover, he said.

“As a city, we need to do everything we can do to make sure companies, especially tech companies, continue to thrive here,” Murphy said. “They’ve made a strong commitment to the city of Hoover. They’ve made a strong investment in the city of Hoover.”

This is the second time the city of Hoover has abated taxes for BioHorizons. In late 2018, the Hoover City Council eliminated an estimated $121,000 in construction-related sales taxes and non-educational property taxes for a $2 million expansion that added about 12,000 square feet and was expected to add about 60 jobs over four years.

The company employed about 190 people in Riverchase and about 550 worldwide at that time.

In other business tonight, the Hoover City Council:

• Began the process of annexing 833 acres slated for development as the new Everlee community off Alabama 150 between Ross Bridge and Lake Cyrus. The property is owned by Signature Homes, Marbury Properties and CCN Asset Management. The property must be annexed in pieces because of its proximity to the Bessemer city limits. The council plans to annex it in a series of six meetings between today and June 7, City Clerk Wendy Dickerson said.
• Agreed to pay up to $400,000 to repair drainage systems along Tamassee Lane between Patton Chapel Road and a stormwater pipe in the Green Valley Baptist Church parking lot to remediate flooding problems that have occurred recently in conjunction with installation of new stormwater pipes along Patton Chapel Road.
• Gave approval for a new restaurant called Whiskey Foxtrot Burger Dive to sell liquor at 2341 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 119.
• Rescheduled two City Council meetings from Monday, July 4, and Monday, Sept. 6, to Tuesday, July 5, and Tuesday, Sept. 7, due to the Fourth of July and Labor Day holidays.
• Hired a company called Cotiviti to verify that dependents on the city employees’ health insurance plan are indeed eligible dependents.
• Passed a resolution recognizing 911 telecommunication officers as first responders.
• Agreed to have the grass and/or weeds cut at 905 Shady Brook Circle, 2242 McGwier Drive and 1858 Burning Tree Circle and to bill the property owners for the work due to the properties being declared a public nuisance.

Editor's note: This article was updated at 10:41 p.m. with additional actions taken by the Hoover City Council.