With incentives in hand, Therachem readies to expand Chelsea footprint

Therachem Research Medilab will be expanding with a second location in Chelsea this year.

The global service provider for pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies purchased the land for the first location in January 2018, got possession in April 2018 and had a ribbon-cutting ceremony in December 2018.

Therachem CEO Dr. Poorand Chand lives in Highland Lakes and chose Chelsea for his U.S. location. The other facility is located more than 8,000 miles away in Jaipur, India, and has more than 100 employees.

When the company decided to expand, three other locations submitted bids — two in the South and one international. To keep Therachem in Chelsea, incentive packages came from the state, county and city levels.

A Dec. 4 letter from Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield outlined incentives from the state offered through the Alabama Jobs Act. These included an annual cash rebate of 3% of the previous year’s gross payroll for eligible employees for 10 years (a projected cash value of $475,682); an investment credit for 1.5% of eligible capital investment in Alabama to be given over a 10-year period (an estimated value of $757,968); and a construction sales/use tax abatement totaling $87,500, which brings the total incentive package from the state to $1,351,754.

Shelby County’s incentives include a onetime job credit valued at $14,000, along with sales/use tax abatement on construction materials valued at $10,938 and a 10-year property tax abatement valued at $65,584. The total incentive amount from the county is $90,522.

During the Jan. 21 Chelsea City Council meeting, the council approved an economic development incentive package to keep the company in the city. The new facility will be the first one in the Chelsea Business Park and create 20 new full-time jobs with an average annual salary of $70,000.

The city is also donating $7,700 in infrastructure assistance to help with utility connection and a 75% tax credit for the taxes paid on construction materials, furniture and fixtures. The estimated value of city incentive is $230,000.

Therachem had previously purchased 1.07 acres on western end of the new Chelsea Business Park. The city gifted the company a land donation of 0.93 acres to give them a total of 2 acres.

“The plan is to build a new facility on 1 acre and have another acre to have a second building as the company grows,” Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer said.

The project will see an investment of $5,053,122 in total value.

“Tony [Picklesimer] and everyone in Chelsea have been very supportive,” Therachem CBO Randy Riggs said. “When we were talking about expanding, we went to them because of our initial experience with them. We didn’t know if Chelsea would win the expansion, but at the end of day, the city met and exceeded our expectations, and we couldn’t be happier,” he said.

As a smaller company, Therachem will be able to provide priority to biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturers and will be looking both locally and nationally for chemists to fi ll the positions.

“We will have a pool of employees to pull from locally at UAB, Auburn University and the University of Alabama,” Riggs said. “That triangle of schools will provide us alternatives to bring in aspiring chemists.

“Therachem will be doing custom chemistry during production during the research stage,” he added. “The new facilities will give us the capability to extend our arm in collaboration with the partners we are working with and expand to new partners.”

Riggs said the company has already chosen the builder and hopes to break ground on the new building before August.