VANDALIA FACTORY TO CREATE 76, NOT 100, JOBS

A Vandalia manufacturer has revised a commitment first made in 2015 to create local jobs.

International manufacturer Johnson Electric/Saia-Burgess LLC announced with state officials in January 2015 that it planned to create 100 new jobs at its 801 Scholz Drive facility in what was then said to be an $8.2 million, 30,000-squarefoot expansion.

At the time, an eight-year tax credit had been approved by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority for the company.

But Greg Shackelford, Vandalia assistant city manager, recently said that plan has not materialized, and those job-creation numbers have since been cut. State development officials re-examined the company’s new plans, he said.

“Instead of 100 proposed new jobs in 2015, the total has been reduced to 76 proposed new jobs,” Shackelford said.

“I think management had a change of heart about the initial use of the Vandalia site,” he added. “The good news is that they are committed to staying and to growing in Vandalia.”

Several calls to the local company have been not been returned. An email sent by a company representative said Johnson Electric “has expanded the manufacturing facility by over 11,000 square feet, and will create 76 new jobs over the next 3 years.”

That email did not mention the 2015 jobs commitment.

The products manufactured in Vandalia include automotive, building automation and security, business machines, defense and aerospace, food and beverage, home technologies, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment, industrial equipment, medical devices and more, the email said.

Based in Hong Kong, Johnson Electric is a global company.

The company’s expansion of its building is already complete, Shackelford said. He referred questions to a Dayton Development Coalition official.

A spokeswoman for the coalition referred questions to the company and to a monthly metrics report from JobsOhio, the state’s private development arm.

According to JobsOhio monthly metrics measurement in July, a “Johnson Electric North America Holdings Inc.” project creates 76 new jobs, retains 251 jobs and invests nearly $3.5 million in fixed assets. The state extended a $65,000 workforce grant and a $135,000 economic development grant to the company, JobsOhio said.