The Ohio Statehouse event also will be attended by Ambassador Zhang Qiyue, consulate general for the People’s Republic of China in New York, and John Minor, JobsOhio president and chief investment officer.
In January 2014, Fuyao announced it would build its first North American automotive glass manufacturing facility at the former General Motors assembly plant in Moraine.
Fuyao Glass America Inc. is recruiting for its first 430 job openings and plans to start operations in March or April. By year end, 630 workers are expected to be at the plant and eventually as many as 1,000 may be employed there.
Fuyao, which has 18,000 employees worldwide, is the largest auto glass supplier in China and controls 18 percent of the global market. Its customers include GM, Chrysler, Honda, Hyundai and Kia.
Fuyao Glass America Inc. bought 1.2 million square feet of the former General Motors Assembly Plant in Moraine at West Stroop Road and Kettering Boulevard for $15 million in May.
The company is in the process of bringing in manufacturing equipment for automobile glass assembly at the facility.
It is expected to invest $250 million in the plant, transforming it into country’s biggest plants for finishing automotive glass. Fuyao will take raw glass and heat, shape and fit it in Moraine for use in autos.
Landing the Fuyao project was one of the biggest coups of JobsOhio and the Kasich administration. The deal was inked in 12 months ago and in May the Ohio Tax Credit Authority voted to give a 15-year tax credit worth up to nearly $10 million to Fuyao. The company must meet its promises to collect on the credit: hire 800 employees and generate an annual payroll of $32.5 million by the end of 2019 and stay at the Moraine facility for at least 18 years, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency. Montgomery County also agreed to a $700,000 grant and the city of Moraine extended a $1 million, five-year forgivable loan if the company hits certain benchmarks.
Last week, the company announced a $7 million gift to the University of Dayton to buy a building in the Suzhou Industrial Park to house its China Institute. The institute opened in August 2012.
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