ANDERSON – Three years after opening a manufacturing plant in Anderson, Greenville Technology is expanding operations with a $24 million investment.
Greg Winker, executive director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, said the company is doubling the size of the existing 150,000-square-foot facility.
The Anderson facility produces 12 component parts for the Honda Civic and Acura ILK including glove boxes, center consoles and aesthetic parts for car grilles.
Greenville Technology Inc. (GTI) is investing $8.8 million in real property and $15.2 million in new equipment.
Once completed, the expansion is expected to add 25 jobs bringing the future total to 350.
Construction is expected to begin in March at the Flagship Enterprise Center. The GTI Anderson plant currently employs 240 associates, with an additional 110 jobs to be added by the end of 2018, a company press release said.
“GTI has been a great community partner for Anderson and we are happy for the opportunity to build on this partnership with GTI’s expansion,” Anderson Mayor Thomas Broderick Jr. said. “We look forward to the many employment and economic opportunities that will grow out of this investment for our residents and our community.”
Greg Winkler, director of the Anderson Economic Development Department, said GTI is requesting a 100 percent 10-year tax abatement on the new equipment and a 68 percent 10-year abatement on the real property.
He said the 68 percent abatement on the real property is based on the percentage of employees who are Anderson residents.
The equipment abatement will save the company $1.5 million over 10 years. The real property will save GTI $1.4 million over the decade with the company paying $700,000 in new taxes.
Currently GTI has no tax abatements.
The expansion will allow GTI to apply finishes to the products it is currently manufacturing.
“This plant expansion is needed to increase our production capacity for upcoming business,” Jon Adams, general manager of GTI Anderson, said. “One very important aspect of this expansion is a new state-of-the-art coating line for the painting of exterior automotive parts.”
In 2012, the city offered GTI $3.25 million in incentives for the company to locate in Anderson. GTI invested $21.4 million in the facility with the promise of creating 325 jobs in three years.
The $3.25 million was provided through the tax increment financing (TIF) district at the Flagship Enterprise Center.
TIF districts are created so that property taxes on new commercial, industrial and manufacturing businesses are captured and spent on infrastructure improvements within the district.