A Medina County manufacturer is a step closer to investing $31.5 million in a plant expansion that would be home to dozens of new jobs.
Metal parts maker SFS intec Inc. learned this week that the Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a state tax break to help finance the expansion to its existing plant in the Portside Corporate Park off state Route 18 in Sharon Township.
The plant, which makes metal parts for the auto industry and fasteners used in the roofing and construction businesses, expects to create 80 full-time jobs, according to the state.
The jobs would generate $3.4 million in new annual payroll — more than $40,000 per worker. The company, headquartered in Switzerland, also said it would retain $3.6 million in existing payroll to get the credit.
The total value of the eight-year Job Creation Tax Credit is about $450,000.
Sharon Township trustee Ray Lurtz said the 80,000-plus square-foot expansion would nearly double the size of the plant.
“This is going to be their flagship [manufacturing] facility,” in North America, Lurtz said.
Earlier this year, Medina County commissioners did their part to spur the project, granting SFS a 50 percent property tax abatement for 14 years.
The abatement — on property taxes on the expansion — is expected to save the company $1.2 million over the 14 years, said Maria Kipfstuhl, business development manager for the Medina County Economic Development Corp.
SFS has proposed spending $9.5 million to build the addition and $22 million on equipment and machinery, Kipfstuhl said. The company has said construction would begin next year.
As part of the deal, SFS is to contribute $10,000 annually to Highland Schools. The company is to give Medina Career Center $500 annually.
The plant is one of four in North America, according to the company’s website. SFS, with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, has a North American headquarters in Wyomissing, Pa.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
