By Sean Longoria, Record Searchlight, November 2011

Redding’s City Council has approved a deal with a local manufacturing and sales company to bring new jobs to the area in exchange for credits toward development fees.

It’s the fourth such deal approved since September, bringing a total of 40 new jobs created since then under the city’s industrial development incentive program, city officials said.

Ted Pella Inc., which manufactures and sells products to laboratories that use microscopes, will create 15 new jobs under the deal, 10 of which will be full time, said Pat Keener, economic development liaison for the city.

The company is hiring for office, warehouse and manufacturing positions.

Redding will waive $27,000 in traffic impact fees and give the company a $10,000 credit toward development impact fees in exchange for the jobs, Keener said in a report to the City Council, which approved the agreement Tuesday night.

The jobs must be sustained for at least five years, said Greg Clark, assistant to the city manager.

Ted Pella, Inc. was founded in Southern California in 1968 and moved to Redding in 1987, according to the company’s website. The company operates internationally and currently has 54 local employees.

Redding also recently approved deals through the incentive program with TechniSoil North America LLC, Northstate Truck Equipment Inc. and Mobile Designs Inc.

The new jobs will pay about $18 an hour on average, Clark said. Redding’s median wage is currently $16 per hour.

“These are well-paying jobs,” Clark said. “These are not minimum wage jobs, which is important.”

The incentive program was established in 1994 to stimulate local manufacturing. Keener said the city hadn’t made an agreement in about five years until the four companies came forward.

“In the last few months, we’ve had some of our manufacturers decide it’s time for them,” he said. “It’s great for the economy, it’s great for Redding.

New jobs to the Redding area means more money working its way through the local economy and likely more tax dollars to the city, Keener said.

“There’s always cascading effects — when you put one person to work in the manufacturing industry you see three to four people with jobs also,” he said.

The incentive program is open to manufacturing, assembly and storage companies with a local presence, according to city documents.

Call 339-7225 or email pkeener@reupower.com for more information.