Franklin approves incentives for Dave Ramsey's company

Franklin officials approved a tax incentive program Tuesday night for financial guru Dave Ramsey's Lampo Group, which is moving forward with plans to consolidate and expand its operations into a new Berry Farms campus space.

Company representatives said at the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen work session before the panel's voting meeting Tuesday that the move will create 398 new full-time jobs by 2020. The financial services company, which already employs about 450 people in the Franklin and Brentwood area, expects to spend about $58 million on the first phase of the roughly 47-acre campus.

Ultimately, the company plans to move all of its employees into the Berry Farms campus, though for now the company will keep the site it owns on Mallory Lane in Brentwood, project manager Winston Cruze said. Lampo Group employees work at three other sites in the area now.

Cruze said the new positions come as the company works to move into a "more digital space," meaning many of the new jobs will be high-paying tech work.

The news that Berry Farms — now mostly residential and retail space — has attracted a large corporate campus bolsters a push by developer Boyle Investment Co. to bring in more office tenants.

Observers say the massive 600-acre planned community in the fast-growing southeast part of Franklin could someday be the anchor of a major business hub, similar to Cool Springs.

Elizabeth West McCreary, vice president of economic development for the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce, said the Lampo Group move was a win for the county as a whole.

"We're excited to keep an incredible corporate partner in our community," she said.

The company initially approached the city, the county as well as the state during its site selection process about possible tax incentives.

In response, Williamson County and Franklin officials developed a proposal that will knock off 42 percent of the company's property taxes on the site over 10 years. The raw amount of the property tax abatement would be capped at $1.87 million for the county and about $360,000 for the city, adjusted for inflation, a city staff report said.

That's all as long as the company meets certain requirements: It must create at least 398 new full-time jobs, and it must invest a minimum of $40 million.

The deal also allows for a "Phase II" incentive package that would be essentially the same as the first one, in anticipation of the construction of a second building and the addition of another 398 jobs.

Williamson County commissioners approved the county's part of the package Monday night.

The city also said in its staff report it would be "open to exploring" whether to spend between $400,000 and $500,000 to replace a small bridge on Pratt Lane, which would improve accessibility to the site. The proposal wasn't included in the incentives up for a vote this week.

The proposed deal mirrors the ones that helped attract some of the city's largest employers, the staff report said, including Community Health Systems' corporate headquarters, Healthways' headquarters and a Verizon regional operations center.

City administrator Eric Stuckey said Franklin officials welcomed the investment — and the potential for almost 800 new jobs.

"We're excited to move it forward," he said.

Reach Jill Cowan at 615-664-2150 and on Twitter @jillcowan.