State officials granted Ironton’s newest manufacturer another job creation incentive Monday.

Tuesday, May 23, 2000

State officials granted Ironton’s newest manufacturer another job creation incentive Monday. State Controlling Board officials approved the Ohio Department of Development’s request to loan $3 million to Liebert Corp. for purchasing equipment.

The Ohio 166 Loan will carry 0 percent interest for years one and two of the payback schedule. The rate will increase to 3 percent for year three and will increase to 4 percent for years four through seven.

The funds will be used to purchase new machinery and equipment, department of development officials said.

Liebert, which announced plans March 27 to lease the 120,000-square-foot Cabletron Systems building for manufacturing, already has been moving equipment into the plant and hiring workers.

The Lawrence Economic Development Corporation granted a 10-year lease in April. The company has an option to purchase after six years.

Liebert manufactures and markets a line of precision air conditioning, electrical power distribution and uninterruptable power supply systems for a wide variety of computer room, telecommunications and industrial applications.

Once Liebert begins operations in its newly-leased Ironton plant, it expects to employ an estimated 150 people within six months and an additional 50 people over the next three years, company officials said.

Tax incentives – those formerly granted by the state and local authorities to Cabletron – helped entice Liebert to the area, even though the company was being courted by Mexico, Department of Development officials said.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority has approved an 84 percent tax credit for a five-year term for Liebert’s start-up.

The job creation tax credit is a refundable tax credit against the business corporate franchise or income tax. The credit equals a percentage of the new state income tax withheld on new full-time employees.

The company also received a $500,000 grant from the state’s Business Development account.

And, another $125,000 in Ohio Industrial Training Program grant funds are waiting on the approval.

Liebert, created in the late 1940s, expanded into serving the computer industry in the mid-1960s. It has been a division of St. Louis-based Emerson Electric Co. since 1987.