By the numbers
$17.2 million: Estimated amount of new payroll generated by expansions at both Dole and Speedway.
350: Jobs to be added at Speedway.
138: Jobs to be added at Dole.
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City staff members will work with local workforce development officials to make sure Springfield residents can fill many of the nearly 500 jobs added by Dole Fresh Vegetables Inc. and Speedway.
City commissioners unanimously approved an employee incentive agreement Tuesday that will provide up to $54,500 in local income tax incentives for both Dole and First Diversity Management Group, a Springfield-based hiring firm, over the next three years if job creation numbers are met.
As part of the deal, Dole will create 138 jobs over the next three years with a $9 million expansion at the plant, 660 Benjamin Dr.
The announcement comes one month after Speedway announced it will create up to 350 jobs with a $9.1 million expansion at the NextEdge Applied Research and Technology Park on East National Road. The company purchased the former QBase building for $5.4 million last month.
The city will work with local workforce development officials from Clark County to make sure the jobs created by Dole and Speedway stay local, Mayor Warren Copeland said.
“It’s very important for us to do everything we can to help people from Springfield get as many of those jobs as possible,” Copeland said. “We will be cooperating with the county that works a lot on job readiness and placement to get our fair share of them.
“This is a significant improvement for the community and will be even more significant if we can get local people into as many of (the jobs) as possible.”
Dole Plant Manager John Lochra declined comment Thursday, while First Diversity Management Group didn’t return calls seeking comment.
It’s a big move for Dole to increase capacity at its facility, keeping it in Springfield for years to come, said Tom Franzen, assistant city manager and director of economic development.
“We’re extremely happy,” he said.
The 138 full-time jobs will be hired by First Diversity, which has a contract to supply workers to Dole. It’s a technique used by similar corporations, Franzen said, including Honda.
Both companies will report to the city as part of the agreement, Franzen said.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 50 percent, nine-year Job Creation Tax Credit for Dole’s expansion Aug. 25, which requires the company to maintain operations in Springfield for at least 12 years. The deal will generate an additional $3.2 million in annual payroll and retain about 600 jobs.
Dole will add three new packaging lines and one processing line to its facility to produce its tender-leaf packaged vegetable products, which include spinach, spring mix and baby lettuce.
The lines are new products for Springfield and will increase the capacity of the facility. The expansion includes renovating an existing building, plus new machinery and equipment.
The company is expected to begin the hiring process immediately.
Springfield was in competition with a plant in North Carolina for the project, according to scope of work documents from the Ohio Development Services Agency. Dole has an existing facility in Bessemer City, N.C.
“State support is necessary to offset a higher project cost in Ohio, which will bring large job growth in a targeted industry to the state,” according to the documents obtained by the Springfield News-Sun.
Dole is a top 25 employer in Clark County and has had a presence in Springfield since 1997, according to the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.
Jobs at Dole include lettuce trimming, cutting, washing, drying, packaging and shipping. A separate quality assurance team performs maintenance and sanitation.
The Springfield plant is about 175,000 square feet and valued at $9.1 million, according to the Clark County Auditor’s Office.
The Speedway expansion was related to its earlier announcement that it would spend $2.8 billion to acquire Hess Retail Holdings, one of the largest convenience store chains on the East Coast.
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