Ohio molders expand for Whirlpool work

TOLEDO, OHIO (Oct. 30, 1:10 p.m. ET) -- Magna Exteriors and Interiors, a division of Aurora, Ontario-based auto supply giant Magna International Inc., is expanding its Toledo Engineered Automotive Modular Systems facility to serve automotive and appliances customers in the region.

With a $17.5 million investment, additional production equipment will be brought into the facility’s existing 177,000-square-foot building, the company told Plastics News.

“We sped up the footer inspection and construction has already started,” Toledo city development technician Ryan Reiter said in a phone interview.

The expansion will enable to the plant to supply injection molded parts to appliance maker Whirlpool Corp.’s facilities in Ohio and for the AutoAlliance International Inc. plant in Flat Rock, Mich.

The company said it will add 124 new jobs in early 2010. The plant has called back 126 laid-off workers to meet customer orders. Contrary to local news reports, the callback is “not a direct result of this expansion,” the company said. The facility currently employs 264.

Magna confirmed that the expansion project has received incentives from the city, including Community Reinvestment Area tax abatement up to $120,000, municipal jobs tax credits up to $227,486, and a Toledo Expansion Incentive up to $243,730.

The expansion was delayed by the recession as well as pre-development issues including utilities and design, Reiter said. The city economic development team helped resolve the issues.

Another injection molder in Northeast Ohio, Revere Plastics Systems of Clyde, also plans to invest $10 million for a 50,000-square-foot expansion and new equipment, according to a report in the Sandusky Register. The company, which supplies to the Whirlpool plant in Clyde, did not return calls.

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