By Janie Southard
jsouthard@dailystandard.com Celina Aluminum Precision Technology (CAPT) will begin a multi-million dollar expansion on March 1, creating a possible 31 new jobs. Completion of the project is expected in late March 2009.
The 48,000-square-foot expansion will join CAPT's main 232,000-square-foot facility at the west wall. Cost of the project is $10 to $12 million.
The expansion is the result of CAPT making a cast aluminum part related to the rear suspension on Honda vehicles. Senior Manager Dennis Lee said the new manufacturing will be phased in over two years.
"This takes us into a different realm and increases our diversity, which solidifies our future. We can start expanding in a lot of areas once we're successful with this," Lee told The Daily Standard on Tuesday afternoon.
Thus far the plant has manufactured automobile engine components. CAPT, which is owned by Honda (49 percent) and, in Japan, Honda Foundry (51 percent), began the process to locate in Mercer County in 1995. During the ensuing years, the company has expanded in real and/or tangible property five times. This new one makes the sixth expansion.
At this week's board of education meeting, the school district approved a 60 percent tax abatement for this latest expansion. There will be no donation to the school district, according to the agreement.
Although there is no legal requirement for any company to make donations in lieu of tax money forgiven, this has been the practice in the local area. Over the years, CAPT has made 40 percent monetary donations to projects for Celina City Schools over a 10-year period every time the company's expansion has involved a personal property tax abatement.
In 1999, the company arranged to pay the district $2 million in four equal installments, which all have been paid. The company continues to make donations to the school equal to 40 percent of taxes for the next five years, due to prior tax abatements.. However, those payments will be phased out in compliance with state law according to House Bill 66 (the state budget bill).
"This CAPT expansion brings additional jobs into the district, and our financial benefit is the income tax revenue from their increased work force. We've had a great relationship with CAPT, and they've always been supportive of our schools the entire 10 years they've been here," Celina City Schools Superintendent Matt Miller said. |
