Thirty One Gifts timeline
May 2011: Thirty One Gifts announces plans to invest $6 million in the O-Cedar Factory and bring 500 jobs in the area in exchange for city financial benefits.
August 2011: WorkPlus OneStop Center helps Thirty One Gifts recruit 130 local employees for the opening.
September 2011: The company officially begins production at the O-Cedar building at 1000 Titus Rd.
October 2011: Springfield’s plant increases to 215 workers.
February 2012: Thirty One Gifts lays off 182 employees at Johnstown and Easton offices citing lagging sales growth. Springfield is unaffected.
August 2012: The company announces intentions to hire at least 30 and up to 60 people to add to its total of 295 employees locally.
Thirty One Gifts will hire at least 30 more people as the company moves closer to meeting its commitment to bring 500 full-time jobs to Clark County by 2014.
“Thirty is a pretty conservative number. We’re actually hoping to hire upwards of 60 people in the next month or two for three different shifts,” said Megan Gordon, Thirty One Gifts spokeswoman. She said the jobs are full-time, not seasonal, jobs.
Gordon said the company has already hired 295 people since opening in summer 2011, although Thirty One did suffer some layoffs at the corporate level and at other Ohio plants.
The layoffs are unrelated to fulfilling the 500 job commitment in Springfield, Gordon said.
“Springfield is just producing more volume, so we need more bodies,” she said.
The company’s rapid growth should begin to reflect in county employer rankings. In the beginning of the year, Thirty One was already ranked in the top 30 employers with the most jobs with around 200 employees.
“There were minor layoffs (in other plants), but we’ve definitely seen some growth,” he said. “We have a productive workforce and they’re committed to the O-Cedar building, so I’m very optimistic,” he said.
The amount of capital investment and number full-time employees at 1000 Titus Road directly impacts the amount of money the city awards the company. According to the agreement with the city, Thirty One will receive $198 per full-time employee that has worked for two consecutive quarters at the time of payment annually. The amount is not to exceed $99,000 per payment.
City economic development administrator Tom Franzen was unavailable to comment on the employment incentive agreement.
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