Thomason Bros. earns tax credits to recycle food waste

A Mansfield business has been approved for $91,853 in state tax credits for its plans to operate an industrial food waste recycling facility.

Thomason Brothers Inc. will receive the credits over a five-year period in exchange for $1.5 million in new investment and 28 new jobs, according to a news release from Gov. Matt Blunt's office. The tax credits are through the state's Enhanced Enterprise Zone program, which offers incentives to areas that have the potential to create sustainable jobs and have a demonstrated impact on local cluster development.

Company President Ben Thomason said the $1.5 million figure is a minimum in anticipated investment in the new operation at 500 Eastside St. He and his brother, Vice President Joe Thomason, moved in May to the 15,000-square-foot location from a home-based operation that had been experimenting in alternative fuels for about three years.

Thomason Brothers, which now has four employees, is working to get its new centrifuge machine up and running "as soon as possible," Ben Thomason said. When the centrifuge is operational, it'll have capacity to process 48,000 gallons of food waste a day from producers such as Kraft, ConAgra and Tyson. The waste will be turned into reusable products such as animal feed and biodiesel fuel, Thomason said.

"It's kind of uncharted territory, so without a lot of help we'd never succeed," Thomason said of the state tax credits. "It's kind of a new industry but it should have a lot of potential."[[In-content Ad]]