Expansion of pet food supplier will bring 200 new jobs to Preble County
A pet company’s $390 million expansion means new Miami Valley jobs.
The state expects pet food supplier Royal Canin, a subsidiary of Mars Inc. in Preble County, to create more than 200 new jobs at a new plant, as the company on Monday secured a tax credit from the state.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority has granted a job creation tax credit to Royal Canin for the project near Lewisburg, an expansion expected to create 224 full-time jobs, Gov. Mike DeWine’s office said.
The project is expected to generate $11.5 million in new annual payroll while retaining $5.4 million in existing payroll, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority said.
The tax credit authority approved a 1.521%, 10-year job creation tax credit for the project.
“At Royal Canin, everything we do is in service of our purpose: to create a better world for pets. Our investment in the new Ohio manufacturing facility will enable us to meet the ever-growing needs of pets and their owners across North America,” Cecile Coutens, president, Royal Canin North America, said in a news release Monday.
“We and our partners at the Dayton Development Coalition welcome Royal Canin North America’s newest manufacturing facility in Lewisburg, which will be its first in Ohio and one of five in the United States,” said J.P Nauseef, JobsOhio president and chief executive. “Royal Canin is a global leader in pet nutrition, and we look forward to 224 Ohioans producing its high-quality products that will benefit the health of pets and the happiness of their owners throughout the North American market.”
Ohio was competing with the Missouri for the expansion, according to a project scope description provided by the state.
Iams sold an existing facility to Royal Canin in 2015. The Lewisburg Pet Health and Nutrition Center, a 127-acre site, sits off Interstate 70 in Lewisburg.
P&G closed what was then an Iams plant in Lewisburg in 2011 as part of a reorganization at the time.