GARNER — Local and state officials have asked ConAgra Foods for more time to put together a financial incentives proposal that they hope will persuade the company to keep its damaged Slim Jim plant open in Garner.

Officials plan to present ConAgra with an incentives plan by Friday, said Ken Atkins, director of Wake County Economic Development. The company had originally wanted to see a proposal by Jan. 15, he said.

“We’re working on trying to get the details nailed down,” Atkins said

He said an incentives package, which could include state and local grants and tax breaks, could climb into the millions of dollars.

The Garner Town Council held a closed-door meeting Thursday to talk about wooing ConAgra. About half of the company’s plant off Jones Sausage Road was destroyed in an explosion June 9 that killed four and injured dozens 

Mayor Ronnie Williams said a preliminary proposal discussed Thursday includes $450,000 from the One North Carolina Fund through the state Department of Commerce. Garner could match that amount in the form of tax breaks, Williams said.

Atkins declined to comment about the fund and what the state might be willing to offer

Read More:News & Observer

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