Columbus has granted a tax abatement to a Japan-based company planning to locate its U.S. headquarters in Columbus.
City council members this week unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement to Daiei Giken Kogyo Co. Ltd. The company plans to work out of buildings at 810 Depot St. and 3620 Commerce Drive in Columbus.
The tax abatement is for $3 million in new manufacturing equipment the company will install in the Depot Street building, where it will make specialty components for Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing, which also has its national headquarters in Columbus. The company will produce forklift pillars and other related components for Toyota.
The company selected Force Construction of Columbus to remodel the production and office space in the two buildings. The Depot Street building is 7,200 square feet, and the nearby Commerce Drive building is 7,800 square feet.
Daiei hopes to be in full production by February but will begin some test runs of the equipment in December.
Daiei, which employs more than 400 people in its facilities in Japan and China, plans to begin hiring for the production and other jobs in December.
The company is the 26th Japan-based manufacturer to locate in Columbus, said Jason Hester, executive director of the Columbus Economic Development Board.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Daiei Inc. up to $50,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job-creation plans. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Indiana residents are hired, the company cannot claim the incentives, state economic development officials said.
Daiei was one of the companies Hester and Mayor-elect Jim Lienhoop met with on a fall trade mission to Japan.
