“We had a good experience working with the city of Kettering to come to an agreement on some retention assistance to keep these jobs in Kettering,” said Zach Millat, vice president of Millat Industries.
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The agreement allows for Millat to receive a grant equal to 20 percent on employee withholding taxes, which Kettering Economic Development Manager Gregg Gorsuch says would be approximately $30,000 per year over the course of five years.
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Millat must also make $600,000 worth of equipment purchases and capital improvements to the building in 2017. Millat has occupied the building at 4901 Croftshire Dr. since 1983, and “needs the improvements to stay there and keep functioning,” according to Gorsuch.
Millat said the company’s biggest project for 2017 — one that would be included in the building improvements — is an overhaul to the HVAC system, as well as bathroom renovations and upgrades to their water line system.
“It was very important for our company,” said Millat of the agreement. “We’re at a point where we need to make some significant investments in the building in order to make it worthwhile to stay here for our immediate future.”
The building the company occupies was initially built as a school in the early 1970s before Millat decided to open the plant there. They have a second plant dedicated to machined painted products in Huber Heights.
As of now, they have no current plans to expand the workforce, focusing on improvements to the building currently occupied.
“Our company has been known for slow and steady growth. No immediate large-scale project at this point in time, but we hope to continue filling our existing facility with good manufacturing jobs and projects for our customers.”
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