GREENVILLE, S.C.-Greenville County is using a soon-to-expire loophole in South Carolina state law to win tax credits of $1,500 for each of the 190 employees Michelin North America plans to relocate to Greenville from Akron over the next year, as the tire maker consolidates the operations of its Michelin Americas Small Tires unit in Greenville, where its U.S. headquarters are located. The county wants to pair up with Bamberg County, six counties away, to create a ``multi-county industrial park.''
By pairing with Bamberg, one of the state's poorest counties, Greenville, one of the richest, can boost the per-worker tax credit from $300 to $1,500. In return, Bamberg County will receive 1 percent of property taxes the park generates.
Earlier this year, the state legislature passed a bill restricting such parks to adjacent counties, but Gov. Carroll Campbell has said he won't sign the bill into law while counties are in the midst of negotiations to bring jobs to the state.
Under the proposal Greenville County and Michelin are negotiating, the tire maker would borrow as much as $8.5 million, using county revenue bonds, and receive the annual $1,500 state income tax credit for each job it moves to Greenville.
Construction is expected to begin this fall on a $5 million building adjacent to Michelin's existing headquarters to house the larger work force.
Marangoni opens Wingtread plant
TRENTO, Italy-The success of its curved-profile precure treads, introduced in 1991 under the Goldwing name, has prompted Marangoni S.p.A. to increase production capacity.
The company recently inaugurated a new plant in Frosinone, Italy, dedicated to production of the concave treads, which have been renamed Wingtread.
The 43,000-sq.-ft. plant can produce about 5,500 tons of product annually in some 100 different tread designs and sizes, the company said.
The new name stresses the integration of the Wingtread with Marangoni's other precure tread lines: Unitread, traditional flat precure treads, and Ringtread circular tread rings.
Sales and marketing responsibilities for the three product lines recently have been transferred to a single, central coordinating body within the Marangoni Tread division, the company said.
In brief...
Monroe Auto Equipment Co., a unit of Tenneco Automotive, broke ground June 9 for a new shock and strut plant in Celaya, Mexico, to supply automakers in that country, including Chrysler, Nissan and Dina.
According to Tenneco, the 60,000-sq.-ft. facility is expected to begin production early next year and will be expanded as production increases.
None of the output will be exported to the U.S., the company stressed.
Yokohama Tire Corp. has been named the exclusive tire supplier for the American Continental Championship racing program through 1996.
Sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, the American Continental Challenge features purpose-built Formula 2000 (with 2000cc engines) racing cars competing in seven street-circuit and permanent-course events in the U.S. and Canada.