Elgin gives Swiss firm its perks

Elgin's city council approved an economic incentive agreement with a Swiss company Wednesday night, but not before a debate over how the company checks whether new hires are legal residents or not.

Givaudan Flavors Corp. is promising to bring 22 new jobs to Elgin with an average annual salary of $77,000. The city, in turn, is offering the food and beverage flavor-maker a maximum $50,000 incentive to keep those jobs there for five years, and encourages it to seek more.

Building permit fees at the vacant facility at 735 Tollgate Road are also waived, and Givaudan employees are allowed to join the Centre of Elgin at resident membership rates.

But Councilman John Prigge raised concerns that the company isn't going to use the federal e-verify program, which checks an employee's I-9 form against records in a Social Security Administration database. He said the program has a high success rate in verifying legal hires, and without requiring Givaudan to use it, the city has little recourse but suing if it's found the company hired illegal workers.

“I just want to make sure the incentive we give this company is that legal citizens will get these jobs,” Prigge said. “We're putting citizens tax dollars down without a net.”

Corporation Counsel William Cogley said it was his understanding the company does not use e-verify because it already considers its current background check system to be effective.

Councilman John Steffen added that the company's system includes a Social Security number match and a credit check.

In a back-and-forth exchange with Prigge, Councilman Robert Gilliam said it would be “insane” to not approve the agreement with Givaudan, considering the current 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

“Why do you want to add more layers to a business coming to town? Their system hasn't been broken,” Gilliam said.

Mayor Ed Schock said he couldn't remember another economic incentive agreement where a company's salaries were as high, and questioned why the e-verify concern hadn't been raised before approving other agreements.

“Are we afraid we're going to be getting illegal Swiss? Where were you guys on Walmart and Rosen Kia in the last few months?” Schock said.

Councilman Dave Kaptain, who is challenging Schock in next April's election for mayor, proposed an amendment to the agreement that Givaudan would have to present documentation on legal hires to the city not necessarily using e-verify before receiving an incentive check. That measure failed by a 4-3 vote, with Kaptain, Prigge and Councilman Richard Dunne supporting it.

The agreement was approved by a 6-1 vote, with only Prigge voting against it.