Chiyoda investing another $7 million in local facility

The Greencastle City Council Tuesday night took its first step toward granting Chiyoda USA Corp. tax abatement on $7 million in new equipment at its local facility.

Adopting Resolution 2013-10, the Council declared the Chiyoda property at 2200 E. State Road 240 (the 27.89-acre site formerly owned by Happico) as an economic revitalization area.

That declaration, approved unanimously after a motion by Councilor Phyllis Rokicki, will make the site eligible for tax abatement.

As is typical of the tax-abatement process, a public hearing on that proposal is expected to go before the City Council at its June 11 meeting.

The new equipment, explained Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center Director Bill Dory, will upgrade Chiyoda's paint line while adding seven injection-molding machines at the auto parts maker's 293,000-square-foot plant.

Dory told the Council to "consider the equipment list preliminary," adding that there "might be other equipment, too when the list is finalized."

The upgraded paint line and new equipment are expected to mean 25 additional fulltime employees after a year if business continues to prosper, Dory noted.

The project is also considered vital to job retention as Chiyoda pursues new business opportunities.

Chiyoda currently has 97 fulltime employees on its Greencastle payroll along with another 97 considered fulltime temporary employees.

Council President Adam Cohen happily pointed out that 55 of those 97 fulltime Chiyoda employees reside within Greencastle (with 74 living within Putnam County), while 43 of the 97 temporary workers at the plant live in Greencastle (65 in Putnam County).

Council members were also impressed by the taxes Chiyoda has paid over its Greencastle existence.

Since Chiyoda purchased the property from Happico in 2006, the company has paid more than $1.1 million in property tax, including $173,490 in 2013.

Even with tax abatement on the equipment (which is imposed on a sliding scale), Chiyoda will still pay an estimated $233,856 in additional personal property taxes over the ensuing 10 years on the $7 million in new equipment.

"We're certainly grateful to Chiyoda for its continued investment," Mayor Sue Murray said during the Council discussion.

Preparation for installation of the new equipment will begin yet this spring and continue through the summer, Chiyoda Production General Manager Ron Muncie told the Council.

Actual equipment installation is expected during summer 2013 and winter 2014.

Initial work will focus on the paint line upgrades, which are likely to be placed in service this August.

Starting in July, work will begin on setting up the new injection-molding machines, which likely will be put in service a year from now, in May 2014.

In presenting the project to the Council, Muncie and Dory were joined at Tuesday night's meeting at City Hall by Yoshio Ozawa, the plant's executive vice president and chief operating officer.