Sun staff
The Williamsburg Township trustees and the Clermont County commissioners approved an enterprise zone agreement, clearing the way for Milacron LLC to grow its operations in the county.
The trustees made the decision during their meeting on Dec. 14, and the commissioners voted on Dec. 17.
Both bodies approved a 60 percent property tax abatement for 10 years for a $6 million Milacron expansion project.
Of the total investment, $2.4 million will be used for the construction of a 28,000-square foot building addition, according to a fact sheet supplied by the county.
The remaining $3.6 million will be for existing building improvements to house additional employees and upgrade the facility to support increased production.
The project is proposed to begin this month, and Milacron has 36 months to complete construction.
“We’re pretty excited about what’s happened,” said trustee Gary Jordan.
According to the agreement, Milacron will hire 149 permanent full-time equivalent positions within three years of completing construction.
These new positions are expected to net $7 million in additional payroll.
“It’s a good day for Clermont County and definitely a good day for Williamsburg Township,” said Adele Evans, assistant director of the Clermont County Department of Community and Economic Development.
Andrew Kuchta, director of the Clermont County Department of Community and Economic Development, said the project was very competitive.
“Milacron was taking a very hard look at relocating all its facilities to Indiana,” he said. “They did get a very, very financially lucrative proposal from the state of Indiana to move all the production facilities in Ohio out there.”
He added, “The state of Ohio came up with an incentive package and this was our part of the whole deal.”
Commissioner David Uible said he was glad that Milacron is staying in the county.
“Absolutely,” agreed Commissioner Bob Proud. “This is a win, win.”
He added, “I’m glad that they’re staying because they’ve been here a long time.”