By Mike Boyer
Enquirer staff writer

Wild Flavors Inc., the Erlanger flavor maker, has secured a $2.5 million tax credit from Kentucky for a planned $15 million expansion that would add 68 jobs.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave preliminary approval to the tax credit at its meeting Thursday.

The privately held German-based company, which employs 279 in Erlanger, wants to add specialized processing capacity for its food and beverage customers.

A company spokesman could not be reached for comment Friday, but state officials said the company wants to acquire a 215,000-square-foot building on 15 acres for $5.5 million, make $2 million in building and fixture improvements and install $7.5 million in new equipment.

Wild, which bought the assets of the former F&C International out of bankruptcy in 1994 and opened its new plant in Erlanger in 1998, said the new jobs would be created over two years after the expansion is completed.

The finance authority also gave preliminary approval to a $400,000 tax credit for Meyer Tool Inc., a contract metalworking company with operations in Cincinnati and Erlanger.

Privately held Meyer, which does machining for GE Transportation and other aviation suppliers, is planning a 15,680-square-foot addition to its Erlanger plant for new production work for a small business jet.

The project would add 15 jobs at the plant, which now employs 72. The expansion would cost about $1.8 million and include $500,000 in building expansion and $1.3 million in new equipment.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com