County Council Declares Economic Revitalization Area for BioBond Adhesives; Several Abatement Compliance Reports Approved

Tippecanoe County Council on June 10 adopted a declaratory resolution designating an Economic Revitalization Area (ERA) for BioBond Adhesives and approved compliance statements for a slate of companies receiving property and personal-property tax abatements.

Colin Huffines, economic development manager for Greater Lafayette Commerce, presented BioBond’s declaratory resolution and introduced company representative Ken Bull. "We're a brand new start up company. We've been in existence a year and a half," Bull told the council, describing plant-based coatings and adhesives research and some local pilot projects, including an application of floor coatings at LTHC the company is providing as a gift.

Huffines and Bull said the ERA designation is a first step. The council approved Resolution 2025-12-CL to designate the ERA; if confirmed, the process includes publishing notice and a public hearing at a future meeting before a confirmatory resolution.

Separately, the council reviewed compliance statements for several companies that hold existing abatements and voted to approve each company’s compliance as presented. Company representatives who addressed the council included Jason Rainey of Industrial Pallet (American Fiber Tech Corp.), Kelly Andrews for Apex Warehouse and Logistics, Doug Nagel of Highway Safety Services (Dormie LLC), Ken Bridal of Allstate Fasteners, and Sean Camel of Tri Clinic Labs. All those firms presented employment and investment figures that the county staff said made them substantially compliant with their abatements.

The council discussed Lutofac USA (LudoFact), a personal property abatement that has seen a significant reduction in reported employment since the abatement began in the pandemic period. JP Clausen, president of Lutofac USA, said revenue is growing and the firm had an actual equipment investment of about $635,000 compared with an estimated $1.2 million on the original SB-1 form. "We have turned the cycle coming out of the COVID hangover. Our revenues are up this year almost 35% so far," Clausen said. Council members pressed staff on the compliance process and explained that if the council were to find a company noncompliant it would trigger a notice and hearing process; future abatements could be withdrawn if a formal finding of noncompliance were sustained.

For the BioBond ERA, the council approved the declaratory resolution; staff said a public hearing would likely be scheduled at the July meeting before a confirmatory vote. For the compliance statements, the council voted on each company individually and approved the motions on voice votes.

The council and staff emphasized that personal-property abatements apply only to the assessed value increase associated with purchased equipment, not to estimated costs listed on SB-1 forms. In the Lutofac discussion the council noted that seasonality and pandemic-era demand distorted earlier projections and that the county’s compliance review considers actual investment and employment at measurement dates.

The actions taken were procedural and administrative: designating the ERA, accepting compliance statements, and scheduling next steps (notice and hearing) where required.