VIENNA GM supplier picks area for plant

New jobs will pay about $14 an hour.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
VIENNA -- A Michigan company that makes automotive parts is opening a plant here that is to employ 185 within a year.
Android Industries of Wixom, Mich., will lease the plant at 1330 Ridge Road to assemble radiators and other engine parts for General Motors Lordstown Assembly Plant, local development officials said.
Walter Good of the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber of Commerce said Android plans to assemble parts and deliver them as they are needed on the assembly line at the car plant.
Good said the company will hire its own employees, but the effect on employment at the car plant was unclear.
Jim Graham, president of United Auto Workers Local 1112 at the car plant, said Android had been talking to GM about handling engine-related work but he wasn't sure of the status of the talks or exactly what the company would do.
Tom Mock, a GM spokesman, said he couldn't comment on how Android's work would fit into the Lordstown operations because the deal is not complete. Android must have thought it had to go forward with its financial incentives in order to be ready if the deal is finalized, Mock said. A tax abatement was approved this week.
Mark Zigmont of the Trumbull County Planning Commission said the company told local officials it will start by assembling radiators and move on to other engine parts later.
Android officials could not be reached.
Jobs will pay about $14 an hour.
Good said local officials were challenged to put together a strong financial package because Android could do the work elsewhere and ship the parts in. Android officials were looking at sites in Pennsylvania, Michigan and other parts of Ohio, but local officials worked to persuade them to locate near the plant.
Trumbull County commissioners approved Thursday a 10-year tax abatement that averages 50 percent. The abatement is higher in the early years and lower in the later years.
Vienna Township trustees approved the abatement Wednesday.
The Ohio Department of Development is offering a $1.5 million loan to buy equipment, a $137,000 grant for worker training and a job creation tax credit.
Android will spend $4 million on machinery, and GM will place about $6 million of its equipment in the plant.
Negotiations: Good said Android has been negotiating with GM on the deal for about two years and has been working with the chamber on a financing package for the past six months.
Android has selected a building near Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport that formerly was used by Delphi Packard Electric Systems.
Good said the state has agreed to extend its Ridge Road widening project from King Graves Road, past the chamber's new industrial park near the airport to Android's plant.