Local plant sells for $4.9M; New owners to add jobs

A Texas-based metal company buys former Material Sciences Corp. site, will add jobs here for some global operations.

MIDDLETOWN — Material Sciences Corp. has sold its Middletown plant and coil-coating equipment to the Texas-based NCI Group for $4.9 million cash, the company announced.

MSC officials said they idled operations at the Middletown plant, 2400 Yankee Road, about six years ago.

NCI, a metal coating and metal building component manufacturing company, will invest $18 million locally to repurpose the former MSC facility to house some of its international manufacturing operation. The project would bring 74 jobs and an annual payroll of $3.2 million to Middletown. The jobs would be a mixture of company transfers and new hires, said Mike Robinette, economic development director.

“It’s a great sign to bring manufacturing jobs into town. It’s even better when we can do that and we can reuse an existing facility,” he said.

The facility could be operating within 12 months, Robinette said.

At its July 6 meeting, City Council will consider granting a Job Creation Incentive Grant Agreement to NCI for a 50-percent income tax abatement over six years, worth up to $28,000 annually.

NCI has already received a 50 percent state tax credit for six years from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The credit is valued at $197,675 and requires the company to maintain operations at the site for at least nine years beginning Jan. 1, 2011, according to state officials.

According to a real estate posting of the property at loopnet.com, the building was listed for $2.650 million and includes more than 170,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

NCI, originally founded in 1984, operates 39 facilities across the U.S. and Mexico with additional sales and distribution offices in Canada. The company has more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

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