TRW Canada plant looks to hire 60 new workers

Auto parts manufacturer TRW Canada is planning a $4.5-million addition to its plant on Hawthorne Drive, an expansion that will lead to 60 new jobs.

The new employment will add up to $3 million annually to the local economy, TRW’s Canadian director of operations, told members of city council’s development and heritage standing committee on Monday night.

“They’re good paying jobs,” he said, expressing gratification for the city ’s Economic Revitalization Community Improvement Plan that provides financial incentives to companies that create or retain jobs in the city. This is TRW’s second CIP grant. The first came in 2014, which led to construction of its 107,196-square-foot plant on Hawthorne in 2015, resulting in 170 auto parts jobs.

The CIP grants compensate employers for the increase in municipal taxes that happen when a property is improved with a building or addition.

TRW’s first grant will provide it with almost $2 million over 10 years. This second CIP is for a 38,000-square-foot addition, providing grants totalling $686,320 over 10 years.

In total, TRW is receiving $2.6 million in CIP grants over 13 years. The addition will allow the plant to produce a new product, with the 60 new workers on three shifts by May of 2020.

The building is actually owned by Skyline Real Estate Holdings and TRW is the tenant. But the landlord is transferring the CIP grants to TRW.

To date, city council has received 28 applications for the Economic Revitalization CIP. Also on Monday, the committee recommended that automotive coatings company BASF Canada be approved for the CIP, to help the $3.2-million construction of a new 7,320-squarefoot building at its site on Wyandotte Street West at Crawford Avenue.

The new building is for new spray booths that are required to meet the requirements of customers, BASF said. Without the new spray booths, the company could lose customers.

So the CIP grants will assist in keeping the Windsor operation’s 185 jobs, according to a staff report. “The development would directly retain 25 existing jobs related to the spray booth upgrade project.” The new building will also house a tinting lab, light booths, a flammable storage room and offices. The BASF grants are for $13,345 per year for a decade, totalling $133,452.

Both the CIP programs still need to be approved by city council.