Members of the Columbus City Council have designated a property on the city’s far north side as an economic revitalization area, allowing a Michigan-based company with plans to move to Columbus to apply for a tax abatement.
Shively Brothers, a precision tooling preset company based in Flint, Michigan, plans to move into a 6,000-square-foot building at 4780 Progress Drive.
County records indicate that Fezer North America, LLC currently occupies that building.
The Michigan-based company serves the machining industry by cutting and servicing tools, said Paul Henderson, sales director. Shively Brothers’ biggest customer is General Motors.
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Shively has offices in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Mexico, Canada and Bedford, Henderson said. Its move to Columbus comes after the company secured a five-year contract with Cummins, Inc. to provide various machining and tooling services.
“We’ve pursued Cummins for a long time,” Henderson said.
The machining manufacturing company plans to invest $725,000 in machinery and equipment in its newest location by mid-2018, site manager Chris Elder said in a letter to the city. Additionally, it will make a $10,000 investment for improvements to the building and a $934,000 overall capital investment into the Columbus plant within its first five years of operations, Elder said.
Initially, Shively Brothers will hire nine employees. However, that number likely will increase to about 21 employees at the local plant by the end of 2018, generating $720,000 in salaries, Elder said in the letter.
Councilman Frank Miller questioned whether the city had considered designating the entire area surrounding the Progress Drive building as an economic revitalization area, rather than only the property the building sits on.
Robin Hilber, community development programs coordinator, said those discussions had occurred. However, Shively Brothers was prepared to move to Columbus immediately, so the city decided to move forward with that property only for the time being, Hilber said.
A request to designate the entire area surrounding Shively Brothers’ Columbus location as an economic revitalization area likely will be made in the future, Mayor Jim Lienhoop said.
Council members unanimously passed the economic revitalization designation, which now makes Shively Brothers eligible to apply for a tax abatement.
Henderson and Elder said they will return to the city council soon to request a 10-year tax abatement on the purchase of new equipment.
Although the full council has not considered that request yet, an incentive review committee consisting of Miller, councilman Tim Shuffett and councilwoman Laurie Booher reviewed the tax abatement request in a meeting prior to last Tuesday’s council meeting. Shuffett told the Shively Brothers representatives that the three-person committee will give a favorable recommendation for the tax abatement to the full council.
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Shively Brothers, a machining manufacturing company based in Flint, Michigan, plans to open a new location at 4780 Progress Drive, Columbus. The new plant will initially employ nine workers, but that number is expected to grow to 21 by the end of 2018.
The company will install $725,000 in machinery and equipment in its new location. Additionally, it will invest $10,000 in improvements to the 6,000-square-foot building. Overall, Shively Brothers plans to make a $934,000 investment into its Columbus location within the first five years of operation.
The company plans to return to the council to request a 10-year tax abatement on the purchase of new manufacturing equipment.
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