Council President Joe Gibson thanked Abbott officials for choosing Tipp City.
“Out of all of the world, you have chosen here to set up shop. We thank you,” Gibson said.
Ohio’s aggressiveness in attracting jobs, and Tipp City’s willingness to provide infrastructure, like roads and signs, were key factors in bringing the facility to the area, Abbott Executive vice president John Landgraf said.
The plant received $9.2 million in incentives: $8 million from a 15-year Ohio tax credit for job creation, and $1.2 million in tax breaks from Tipp City.
Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor touted the state’s strategy.
“It’s our pro-growth tax policies, it’s our regulatory reform policies that encourage businesses like Abbott to locate here and also stay here for a long time,” Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor said.
Staff for Gov. John Kasich’s Democratic opponent disagreed.
“While its always encouraging to see new jobs in Ohio, the fact remains that Governor Kasich’s policies have left Ohio lagging the rest of the country in job growth. Just last month, Ohio ranked 38th in the nation, and our neighboring state of Pennsylvania created 10 times as many jobs as our state did,” said Lauren Hitt, campaign press secretary for Ed FitzGerald.
The 240 jobs created range from professional engineering to trade skill positions, some of which still need to be filled, vice president of supply chain John Ginascol said.
“With over 40 million Americans aged 65 and older, our Ensure product line is growing. We have high expectations for strong growth, that’s why we built this facility and we hope to be expanding it someday,” Ginascol said.
The 250,000-square-foot facility will utilize a unique aseptic technology for sterile packaging, which is 10 percent more energy efficient than similar liquid plants, according to Ginascol, adding, “it is a factory of the future for Abbott.”
This is the company’s 14th nutrition manufacturing facility and the seventh in the United States. The Ensure drinks it produces will be shipped across the U.S., and eventually to other countries, according to Ginascol.
On the same day the company opened its new Ohio plant, the Chicago Tribune reported the health company laid off an unspecified amount of employees at its Illinois headquarters.
Scott Stoffel, the Abbott spokesman, told the Tribune the layoffs were part of an expense reduction plan the company announced earlier this year. In the quarter ended March 31, Abbott took $194 million in charges associated primarily to “cost reduction initiatives,” according to financial statements.