Galdisa USA is the latest international business to purchase property at Conroe Park North, bringing the industrial park to 80 percent of buildout. The company is based in Mexico City, and it distributes peanuts, candy, cereal and various other product manufacturers. The new facility will be the first that Galdisa opens in the U.S. as the company seeks to reduce the cost of transporting peanuts to its U.S. customers from Mexico, said Danielle Scheiner, Greater Conroe Economic Development Council deputy director. “It is a family company, and they started out by teaching people how to farm peanuts, then they would buy the peanuts from the farmers for their products,” Scheiner said. “This particular facility is going to roast and process peanuts to serve all of their North American customers.” Local municipalities approved tax abatement agreements to help the company build a new facility at the industrial park and establish a local presence. On Nov. 22, Montgomery County Commissioners Court approved an abatement agreement with the company that reduces the amount of local taxes it will pay for six years. The city of Conroe approved a similar abatement agreement with Galdisa USA on Nov. 10. “When you say it is an abatement it is really more of a tax phase-in,” Scheiner said. “The idea behind it is so that a new company can come in and get their feet on the ground, get their customer base going, and it gives them a little bit of ease in their cash flow for those first years.” Scheiner said Galdisa was a good candidate for an abatement because of the economic impact it will have in Conroe and Montgomery County. She said the company would hire 48 employees in its first two years of operation and is investing about $8.7 million in capital improvements at the industrial park. Coupled with a few anticipated projects that could be approved early 2017, Scheiner said Conroe Park North is nearing buildout, and the GCEDC is considering purchasing adjacent tracts of land to expand the industrial park. “We have had some interest expressed on the northern side of the park by a company that is outside of the park that may want to expand into the park, so we are looking at options to see if that is possible,” Scheiner said. “The industrial park is doing very well, are really a prime market for manufacturing and distribution. The industrial park is kind of selling itself.”