Techmetals Is Expanding

On Monday, the state approved Job Creation Tax Credits for Techmetals Inc. and Pelican Technologies Inc.

Techmetals, which provides engineered metal finishing, is planning to invest $2.2 million to build a 10,000-square-foot addition and buy more equipment and machinery, according to the state. The company would get a 40 percent, six-year tax credit for creating 22 jobs as part of the project.

It had about 120 workers as of last year. The company recently landed $250,000 in city and county economic development grants for the project.

Techmetals, a family-owned business started in the late 1960s, occupies about 100,000 square feet across six buildings near downtown Dayton. It serves a variety of industries — including aerospace, medical, food and agricultural — and spends about about $400,000 per year on employee training. Company officials declined to comment on the addition.

Pelican Technologies, which develops software for the RFID, remote sensing and systems integration industries, plans to invest $60,000 in new equipment and create 12 jobs within three years. The company would get a 35 percent, six-year tax credit if successful. The city also has approved the Pelican Technologies project as eligible for its Dayton Economic Attraction Program.

Also known as DEAP, the program is available to companies that create jobs downtown or in one of the city’s targeted cluster groups: advanced manufacturing and materials; data management, sensors and RFID technology; aerospace and aerospace medical research; and regional health care services.

Under the program, companies that are downtown receive an annual grant equal to 75 percent of the city’s withholding tax generated by the new jobs. Companies outside downtown, but within city limits and considered as one of the targeted cluster groups, can get a grant worth 50 percent of the tax paid as a result of the new jobs.

Businesses must create at least five jobs or add $200,000 or more to their annual payroll to be eligible for DEAP funds. Because the program is essentially self-funded, there is no cap on how much is available or how much any individual company can receive.