Car Parts Manufacturer to Bring $60M Investment to Springfield
The Japanese auto parts manufacturer previously announced a $10 million investment, but it now significantly expanded the project. Topre America intends to build a 150,000-square-foot facility in Clark County, Ohio, that will create 85 jobs.
By Laura Calugar
Topre America’s Cullman, Ala. headquarters
Topre, a Japan-based company, recently announced its plans to invest $60 million in Springfield, Ohio. The company will take over a roughly 30-acre, four-year old, industrial business park. Initially, Topre sought to create a smaller $10 million, 20,000-square-foot, manufacturing plant to produce high-strength steel parts for the Acura MDX sport utility vehicle. New plans include expanding the project more than seven times in order to build a stamping, assembly and distribution facility that will create 85 jobs.
The project will take over Champion City Business Park and will be the first development in the site that was once home to an old Navistar factory. The park was closed in 2002, so city officials upgraded the infrastructure and took several years to clean the former International Harvester site of industrial waste and contaminants. Topre’s new plant will be less than 5 miles from Interstate 70 and 27 miles from Dayton International Airport.
According to Columbus Business First, the company considered several other states for the investment, including New York, Mississippi, Kentucky and Tennessee, but decided to invest in Ohio. The expanded project is part of Topre’s strategy to be closer to its major customer, Honda. Construction on the new facility will begin immediately, with plans to have the facility operational in either July or August, according to wdtn.com. Topre plans to be fully operational by the beginning of 2018. The new plant will make parts for Toyota Rav4 and other manufacturers.
Image via Google Street View
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