Monsanto planning $29M seed facility in Greenwood, Indiana

St. Louis-based agricultural giant Monsanto Co. plans to spend nearly $29 million to establish a seed-processing and distribution facility in Greenwood, USA, according to public documents filed this week with the city.

The company said it plans to lease a new 140,000-square-foot building in Southtech Business Park where it will process, package and distribute corn, soybean and cotton seed for field testing.

The office is expected to employ six to 10 fulltime employees making annual salaries in the range of $60,000 to $90,000 per year.

Another 50 to 70 warehouse employees making an average of $14 will be needed at the facility, but that number is expected to fall to 20 in the third year of operations as the facility becomes more automated.

Carmel-based developer Becknell Industrial is developing an $8.7 million building on 11 acres at the northeast corner of Graham Road and Southtech Drive to house the Monsanto facility. Construction is expected to begin in August and be completed in early 2018.

Monstanto is seeking a 10-year, $1.6 million personal-property tax abatement on its investment, which involves $13 million in manufacturing equipment, $15 million in research and development equipment and $700,000 in information technology equipment.

The company would still pay more than $920,000 in personal-property taxes over the abatement period.

Becknell is seeking a 10-year, $1.4 million tax abatement in real estate taxes on the building, saving it about half over the abatement period.

Both abatement requests still need approval from Greenwood officials.