This facility at 2625 N. Morton St. in Franklin houses KYB Manufacturing North America Inc. The company is seeking a tax break for $17 million in new equipment it began installing this year. PHOTO BY SCOTT ROBERSON
By JASON MICHAEL WHITE, Daily Journal staff writer
The first Japanese company to move into Franklin is expanding to keep all of its 615 jobs and asking the city for a tax break to do it.
KYB Manufacturing North America Inc. is asking for a 10-year tax break on $17 million of new equipment. KYB, the world’s leading manufacturer of shock absorbers and struts, has spent the past year installing new equipment for assembly and production lines at its Franklin plant.
“This is a huge investment,” Franklin Mayor Brenda Jones-Matthews said. “We always talk about creating new jobs, but the retention of jobs is every bit as important.”
Franklin is starting to rebound from losing about 1,600 jobs during the past three years because of the closings of Kawneer Co. and ArvinMeritor and layoffs at the Best Buy distribution center.
In the past seven months, the city has granted tax breaks to businesses for the retention of about 50 jobs and creation of 14 new positions. A Greenwood business also plans to build a 80,500-square-foot warehouse in Franklin, and Aisin USA Manufacturing opened a distribution center that employs 50 people.
Franklin’s KYB plant has doubled its workforce since 2001, and the plant’s total annual sales have increased 25 percent since 2002, from $92 million to $115 million, according to paperwork filed in the city planning office.
KYB Manufacturing North America Inc. was built along U.S. 31 in 1998 by its parent company, Kayaba Industry Co. in Japan. The company produces hydraulic products for a wide range of use, including original equipment and replacement parts for automobiles, motorcycles, light trucks, buses, rolling stock and industrial applications.
The city economic development commission plans to review KYB’s request at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Franklin City Hall, 55 Madison St. Commission members will give the request a favorable, unfavorable or no recommendation and forward it to city council members for final approval.
Franklin economic development commission members must review all tax abatement requests before the council decides whether to grant a tax break.
KYB’s request comes as city officials are trying to propose a structured method for letting new and expanding businesses know exactly what incentives, such as tax breaks, they can expect from the city. City officials are identifying businesses they want to attract by asking themselves how many new jobs a company should create or retain, what impact the company will have on roads, how much employees should be paid and what total investment the company will make in the city.
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