RALEIGH – Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced that KSM Castings NC Inc., a producer of light metal casting products for use in the automotive industry, will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Shelby.
The project was made possible in part by performance-based awards from the state’s Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program and One North Carolina Fund. The company plans to create 189 jobs in North Carolina by the end of 2018 and invest more than $45 million into its Cleveland County facility. Receipt of each award will be based on proof of job creation and other performance requirements.
“My administration will work with businesses like KSM Castings to help them grow and expand jobs,” said Governor McCrory. “Today’s job announcement shows that by working together and effectively leveraging our state’s talent and resources, North Carolina can be a leader in manufacturing once again.”
Honored as one of Germany’s most innovative companies, KSM Castings was founded in 1947. The company has experienced much growth recently and wants to expand into North Carolina to meet the needs of existing and new customers in the U.S. With its headquarters in Hildesheim, Germany, and currently six production plants in Europe and China, KSM Castings produces light metal casting products, including chassis, powertrain and body applications, for use in the automobile industry.
“We at the North Carolina Department of Commerce want to partner with the business community and help them grow and expand jobs in our state,” said Sharon Decker, North Carolina Secretary of Commerce. “We want to work with companies like KSM to invest here and make their products here in North Carolina.”
Dr. Frank Boshoff, CEO of KSM Castings, highlighted “Our decision to invest in North Carolina is an important step towards the company’s strategy to increase its global production footprint. The new facility in Shelby will enable us to expand our business with existing and new customers in the U.S. in the background of increasing demands for lightweight casting solutions that help our customers comply with stricter emission regulations and improve driving performance at the same time. We are fully convinced that the technology expertise provided by KSM Castings and the availability of a skilled manufacturing workforce in an emerging automotive cluster make a perfect match for achieving our future goals.”
KSM plans to construct an 110,000 square foot production facility in Shelby and install 8-10 high pressure die-casting machines. Products made at the new plant will include fully machined transmission, engine and steering parts. Potential future expansion could include the production of gearbox housings, and body and chassis applications that partly require additional production processes such as gravity die-casting and counter pressure casting.
“This is great news for Cleveland County and a good start to our economic development announcements in 2013,” said Sen. Warren Daniel. “We welcome KSM Castings to Cleveland County and look forward to continuing our work with Governor McCrory and Secretary Decker to bring manufacturing jobs back to our state.”
“This announcement demonstrates that our focus on workforce development is important for job creation,” said Rep. Tim Moore. “I congratulate KSM Castings for locating in Cleveland County and wish them continued success.”
Compensation will vary by job function, but the average compensation for the new positions is expected to be $42,810, plus benefits. The average annual wage in Cleveland County is $32,760.
To help facilitate this location, KSM Castings has been awarded a performance-based grant of up to $705,000 from the state’s One North Carolina Fund. This fund assists the state in industry recruitment and expansion by providing financial assistance through local governments to attract business projects deemed by the governor to be vital to a healthy and growing state economy. Receipt of the One North Carolina Fund grant will be based on state-certified proof that the company has fulfilled incremental job creation and local funding match requirements.
In addition, the state Economic Investment Committee voted today to award a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) to the company. JDIGs are awarded only to new and expanding businesses and industrial projects whose benefits exceed the costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant.
Under the terms of the company’s JDIG award, KSM Castings is eligible to receive up to 12 annual grants equal to 65 percent of the state personal income tax withholdings from the eligible new jobs created since the date of the initial award. Receipt of each annual grant will be based on state-certified proof that the company has fulfilled incremental job creation and capital investment requirements. Over 12 years, the JDIG award could yield aggregate benefits to KSM Castings of up to $2.86 million.
Other partners who assisted with this announcement include: The N.C. Department of Commerce, Cleveland County, City of Shelby, Cleveland County Economic Development Partnership, Cleveland Community College, Isothermal Planning and Development Commission, Gardner Webb University and Duke Energy.
For more information about KSM Castings, including job opportunities, visit www.ksmcastings.com.