Computer giant Dell Inc. opened a distribution and fulfillment center in West Chester Township, Ohio, in the Cincinnati metro in November. The $15.4 million project will create 250 jobs in the first year and nearly 670 jobs within three years.
Dell, the leading provider of servers, desktop and notebook computers in the country, will utilize the facility to support its printer ink business.
The center will also support distribution and warranty fulfillment on select electronics and accessories orders.
The Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) provided a $500,000 Business Development grant to Dell to purchase machinery and equipment. The state also offered $300,000 in training grants and a 10 year, 70 percent job creation tax credit valued at $3 million.
The state also awarded West Chester Township a $550,000 Roadwork Development grant to make improvements necessary to serve the facility.
Meanwhile, a first-of-its-kind automotive facility in the United States is receiving financial assistance from the state.
DaimlerChrysler announced last year that three suppliers would build and operate a new plant in Toledo and work with the automaker to manufacture Jeep vehicles.
The on-site supplier park will be built in three buildings next to a DaimlerChrysler assembly plant, which manufactures Jeep Wrangler and Liberty vehicles.
In August, DaimlerChrysler announced that it entered into a 14-year business contract with the three companies.
The project is part of DaimlerChrysler’s $2.1 billion expansion of its Jeep facility and will create more than 600 manufacturing jobs during the next three years.
Production at the supplier park is expected to begin in 2006.
While the concept of a supplier-run plant sharing the same site with an assembly plant has been used in other countries, this is the first time it is being tried in the United States, according to DaimlerChrysler.
As part of the project, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority and the Development Financing Advisory Council approved incentive packages for the three suppliers — Mobis Parts Detroit LLC, KUKA Flexible Production Systems Corp. and Haden Environmental Corp. Each company was awarded a 70 percent job creation tax credit for a seven-year term, and each company must maintain operations at the site for 14 years.
Mobis Parts will operate a modular chassis facility for the Wrangler. The company plans to build a 228,000 square foot facility and is expected to create 254 jobs within the first three years of operation.
KUKA will build and operate a body shop, which will produce unpainted bodies for the Wrangler. The Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority will receive a $4 million direct loan to construct a 275,000 square foot facility that it will lease to KUKA.
The $103 million project is expected to create 210 jobs within the first three years of operation.
Haden provides technical environmental services to automakers and suppliers. The company plans to establish a paint shop facility within the park.
The 212,000 square foot operation will be constructed by Haden’s parent company, Haden Schweitzer Corp. The company will invest nearly $144 million in the project, which will create 173 jobs within the first three years of operation.
A separate $280 million incentive package granted to DaimlerChrysler by the state has been declared unconstitutional by a federal court. The state plans to appeal the ruling.
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