VANDALIA FIRM TO DOUBLE IN MOVE TO MIAMISBURG
Wurth Electronics said it is doubling its size in jobs and space.
The growing U.S. headquarters of an electronics manufacturer will move to Miamisburg from Vandalia, where the firm plans to more than double its jobs and space.
A Wurth Electronics ICS executive said Friday the company plans to move to Miamisburg, near the developing Austin Boulevard interchange of Interstate 75.
Miamisburg is offering Wurth a refundable job-creation tax credit to relocate from its Webster Street site.
The company plans to occupy a site more than twice as large at the Austin Business Park on Byers Road, Wurth Chief Financial Officer Jason Severit said.
Wurth employs 45 people at its current 16,000-square-foot site, which represents the U.S. operation for the electronics business unit of the Worth Group, a German-based “world leader in assembly and connecting
materials,” documents show.
“Accelerated growth” projections show significant expansion that would increase the number of jobs locally to “at least 95,” according Miamisburg records.
“Those jobs will include manufacturing, HR, accounting, engineering, quality, project manage- ment. So it’s quite a diverse (number of ) jobs that we’ll be adding,” Severit said.
“Our sister company in Germany is 10 times larger than ours, and the U.S. market is bigger than the European market,” he said. “So they’re really looking for us to grow.”
The company will occupy about 40,000 square feet of space at Austin Business Park Building 3, a structure now being built that will also be the future home of Winter Guard International.
Severit said Wurth plans to move in early 2020.
Vandalia officials said they are happy for Wurth’s growth, but are sorry the company will not remain in the city.
“It is our understand- ing that they are outgrow- ing their current location and need a larger facility to handle that growth,” Vandalia Assistant City Manager Amber Holloway said in an email.
“While we would love to see the company remain here Vandalia, we do wish them the best moving forward wherever they choose to be.”
Miamisburg’s proposal is set to be considered by its city council Tuesday night. It involves a 30%, five-year refundable tax credit “on local income taxes collected as part of the relocation,” records show.
Miamisburg Development Director Chris Fine said he initially met with Wurth CEO Alexander Lazar in June before the new site was finalized.
The expansion would give Wurth an annual payroll of about $4.8 million, the Miamisburg plan says, with an average salary of more than $50,000.
“The company is consid- ering leasing nearly 40,000 square feet of space at Austin Business Park,” Miamisburg records state.
“Over t he last couple of years they have seen a steady growth,” Miamisburg documents state, “and a recent forecast projects accelerated growth over the next 3-5 years as they con- tinue to gain market share in the U.S.”
Wurth off e rs circ u it board-based system solu- tions for power boards, electronic controls, displays and control panels, according to its website.
The company supports its customers in the com- mercial and special vehicle industry, the construction and agriculture machinery industry and the automo- tive market, its website says.
“As a specialist for the development and produc- tion of circuit board-based solutions for electrical systems Wurth Electronics ICS has developed and implemented new concepts of electrical systems which fulfill the requirements of the customers, the legal and the environmental regulations,” according to the company.