GOVERNMENT GRANTS RAISE HOPES FOR ADDING 850 JOBS

Commissioners will decide next week which companies get funds.

The promise of a Fortune 500 company building a new automotive manufacturing operation in the Dayton area — as well as a Florida biomedical company creating more than 200 jobs — each drew a recommendation for public development grants Friday.

A committee is sending the recommendations to Montgomery County commissioners, who will have the final say Thursday on which companies receive county ED/GE (Economic Development/ Government Equity) money for moves or expansions.

Code-named “Project Nora,” the committee decided to recommend $250,000 to an as yet unidentified Fortune 500 manufacturer that could build a 300,000-square-foot operation in Brookville, Dayton or Union. Erik Collins, the county’s development director, told committee members the company could be in the area by late 2019 or early 2020.

“Nora” is set to receive another $150,000 in the spring of 2019.

ED/GE funding is awarded twice a year, in the fall and spring.

Tyler Technologies, which already has a property appraisal and government software office in Moraine, was recommended for $250,000, with the promise of 225 new jobs being added to an existing 160 local jobs.

The biggest batch of new jobs in the fall ED/GE funding round would come from a Florida health company, AxoGen Inc.

This summer, AxoGen bought a Vandalia industrial building in the Scholz Industrial Park. That project could create 228 new jobs, according to the city of Vandalia, which applied for $350,000 in ED/GE money.

The ED/GE committee recommended $250,000 for AxoGen, which is expected to create jobs with an average annual salary of $41,200.

Defense contractor JJR Solutions is eyeing a move from Pentagon Boulevard in Beavercreek to downtown Dayton. The committee recommended $120,000 to that company and its promise of 100 new jobs at an average annual salary of $90,000.

In Dayton, metals finisher Techmetals Inc. sought $120,000 for an expansion to retain 200 jobs and create 25 new ones. The committee recommended the same amount.

In Miamisburg, Excelitas Tech-

nologies, a maker of optoelectronics and advanced electronic systems, was recommended for $175,000 to expand its existing facility, adding 45 new jobs to 160 current jobs.

The code-named Project Stop 8 — again for a company not yet identified — was recommended for $150,000 for a manufacturing project in Vandalia promising 44 new jobs.

Hofacker Precision Machining was recommended for $56,250 for three new manufacturing jobs in Brookville, while a janitorial and floor care company was recommended for $23,000 to upgrade a location at 5134 Salem Ave.

ED/GE funding is funded in part from countywide sales taxes.