Business Facilities - April 2008 - (Page 9)

Mansfield Answers StarTek’s Call I n January, Colorado-based company StarTek announced that it will build a new call center in Mansfield, OH, creating between 500 and 600 full-time jobs. The new employees will handle customer service for the wireless communications business. Jobs at the call center will have starting hourly wages of $8.50 to $9.50, with the possibility of increasing to $12.50, in addition to weekly performance bonuses and full benefits. Local officials estimate the total payroll will reach $12 million, with an average employee salary of $24,000. Mansfield’s Economic Development Director Tim Bowersock says he can’t remember the last time an out-of-town company created that many new jobs in Mansfield at once. StarTek had outsourced some of these jobs overseas, but decided to bring them back to the United States this year. “This is one of three or four new centers they’re establishing this year,” Bowersock says. The company will receive a 10year, 100% property tax abatement on its $5 million expansion of a for- mer grocery store. The 31,000square-foot building will be renovated and will include a 20,000square-foot addition. In exchange for the property tax break, StarTek will provide the Mansfield school district $43,529 in compensation per year. “The community of Mansfield was chosen because of its exceptionally strong labor pool,” says Larry Jones, StarTek’s president and CEO. The area’s low cost of living was also a determining factor. Iwata Bolts to Ohio from California I fasteners manufacturer, plans to complete its new U.S. headquarters in Fairfield, OH this summer. The headquarters will include a 115,000square-foot office and manufacturing plant on a 17-acre site on Union Centre Boulevard (pictured below). Construction began in October and has an accelerated timeline for completion since the new facility already has orders from its Japanese clients, which include Honda and Nissan. IBUSA currently has facilities in Garden Grove, CA and Vandalia, OH, but plans to consolidate its operations by closing those offices and moving them to Fairfield. This transfer is expected to bring 50 jobs to Fairfield over the next three years. “Most of the products come to this area,” says Akira Kayama, executive vice president of IBUSA. “That’s why we decided to move the factory from California.” IBUSA manufactures metal bolts and fasteners and its major customers are automotive manufacturing plants in Indiana, Kentucky, and Georgia. In exchange for its $10.5 million investment, IBUSA will receive a 50% property tax abatement over seven years from the Fairfield City Council. During this time, the company has agreed to pay the Fairfield City School District $9,105 per year. wata Bolt USA (IBUSA), the American branch of a Japanese bolts and ExUrban Ohio. The best of both worlds. For more information, contact the ExUrban Experts at 1-800-282-6962 or www.buckeyepower.com/natl BUCKEYE POWER PHOTO CREDIT: FAIRFIELD CITY DEVELOPMENT #2410 at www.BusinessFacilities.com BUSINESS FACILITIES 9 http://www.buckeyepower.com/natl http://www.BusinessFacilities.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Business Facilities - April 2008

Business Facilities - April 2008 Contents First Word Snapshots Corporate Moves: Ohio Businesses On the Move Corporate Moves: Nebraska If You Build It, They Will Come A Tale of Two Industries Economic Transformation In the Islands Diversity: A New York State of Mind Growing in the Sun Key Kansas Industries Get a Boost How To Choose the Right Commercial Real Estate Broker Missouri Downtowns Dare to Dream Advertiser Index Ask the Expert

Business Facilities - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.