“We’re excited to take this next step,’’ said Jon Norris, Hit’s chief strategic officer. “We moved here two and a half years ago (from Springdale) … and now we need a building twice as large.”
The 50-year-old, family-operated Hit, and Profill manufacture, distribute, warehouse, wholesale a wide assortment of promotional branded merchandise and apparel catering to Fortune 100 companies and others. They average about 5,500 orders a day, Norris explained.
They decided to stay in Fairfield because of its location with easy access to Interstates 75, 71 and 275 – within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the United States and Canadian populations; local workforce; and tax incentives.
Sites in Texas and Texas were also under consideration for the expansion, according to papers filed with the city.
Monday, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority announced Hit was awarded a 1.266 percent, seven-year Job Creation tax credit for the project.
Fairfield City Council approved a performance-based, 8-year, 45 percent property tax abatement on the assessed value of the expansion provided certain income tax goals are met.
The company has 237 employees who will move to the new location next year when the building is constructed. It plans to add another 100 jobs over the next three to four years. Those jobs are projected to expand the payroll by $4.8 million annually, bringing it to an estimated $24.9 million or more, according to city documents.
As part of the city’s incentive package, Hit will compensate both the Fairfield City Schools and Butler Tech for dollars they would have received without the abatement.
Site work is expected to begin next month and completed by the end of next year, Norris said. Fairfield Commerce Center will purchase the land and construct the building at a cost of $93.2 million which includes the cost of property, machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures and inventory.
In conjunction with the project the city has been awarded grants from the Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio Department of Development, totaling $550,000 to improve Seward Road. The city will pay the remainder of the estimated $691,000 cost to make the improvements.
Work includes straightening two back-to-back curves on Seward and adding a lefthand turn lane to provide access to the project site on the west side of Seward Road.
It is the third phase of road improvements. The first phase, completed last year, widened Seward Road to three lanes. Construction of a roundabout at the intersection of Seward and Tylersville roads is ongoing and should be finished by the end of the year.
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