Finicky Pet Food, Inc. Invests in Clean Energy with MassDevelopment Bond

February 10, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

Bill Schofield, Finicky Pet Food, Inc., 239-691-0883
wfsjr4@aol.com

MassDevelopment has issued a $5,267,500 tax-exempt bond on behalf of New Bedford’s Finicky Pet Food, Inc. which processes fish for the Pet Food Industry. The company is using the bond, which MassDevelopment enhanced with two export guarantees, to acquire and install solar panels on the roof of its manufacturing facility on Blackmer Street. The solar panels will also be part of a canopy system on Finicky Pet Food’s parking lot and adjoining land. Finicky Pet Food, Inc. is also using proceeds to refund a previous MassDevelopment bond, which the company used to buy and rehabilitate its manufacturing facility, and purchase land and equipment in 2006. Webster Bank purchased the bond, and MassDevelopment estimates the project will create 20 construction jobs.

“Finicky Pet Food, Inc. provides an integral connection between the South Coast Seafood Industry and the Pet Food Manufacturing Industry,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “This tax-exempt bond will help this Gateway City Company invest in renewable energy, helping it reduce overall electricity costs and devote more resources to delivering quality frozen seafood to the Pet Food Industry.”

Finicky Pet Food, Inc. sources fresh fish, frozen fish, and fish scrap from local fish cutting-houses for processing. The company provides frozen and ground fish to suppliers and manufacturers in all parts of the industry’s supply chain. Prior to Finicky Pet Food opening for business in New Bedford, similar companies charged the cutting houses to pick up their fish scrap. That fish is now reprocessed for future sale and is an important source of revenue to the New Bedford fish-processing industry.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2015, MassDevelopment financed or managed 294 projects generating investment of more than $2.5 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create about 6,100 jobs and build or rehabilitate about 2,000 residential units.