93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
The Boone County Commission on Thursday agreed to millions of dollars in tax breaks for a medical facility.
Northwest Medical Isotopes will only pay half its property taxes thru 2030. The $108 million facility off the Discovery Ridge exit in south Columbia would use elements made at MU’s research reactor and distribute an isotope called Molybdenum-99 used in medical scans. The company says it could supply enough isotope for half the medical scans in North America, generating $30 million in annual sales. The company is planning on 108 jobs here, paying an average wage of $35 an hour.
Commissioner Janet Thompson says the combination of Mizzou, the reactor on campus, and quick access to Interstate 70 was a big factor.
“The synergy there is pretty important for a kind of business especially like this where the products that they are creating have such a short shelf life.”
Thompson was not on the commission when the discussions about Chapter 100 bonds started. Northwest Medical Isotopes has spent the last few years getting nuclear regulatory approval at the Discovery Ridge site. The site was first announced in 2014.
“I don’t know that they would have located had that not been the thought that [the Chapter 100 bonds] would be available ultimately,” Thompson said.
The Wake Up Columbia interview on Thursday morning with Thompson:
