Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. will begin assembling Toyota Camry sedans in a few months, resulting in the creation of 1,000 new jobs.
Toyota plans to produce 100,000 Camrys this year at the Subaru plant, largely unused since Isuzu stopped manufacturing vehicles there in 2004.
Toyota will receive a $22.2 million package of state and local incentives for its efforts in making a $230 million investment in the Lafayette, Indiana plant. Wages start around $15 an hour and increase to around $24 an hour after three years.
Applications for employment are pouring in, according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Currently, 13,277 applicants “have completed the online application process, and of those, 3,354 have been advanced to a second round of interest,” says Joe DiLaura, press secretary for the department.
“Ultimately, about 1,000 will be hired. The truth is, these applicants are coming from across the state. There is a lot of interest in good-paying manufacturing jobs.”
DiLaura also mentions that Honda is currently building a new plant in Greensburg, Indiana. The new plant is expected to open in 2008, “and will create at least 2,000 manufacturing jobs. We expect a lot of people to apply for those jobs as well,” he says.
Honda was also lured by attractive local and state incentives, including $141.5 million in tax credits and abatements, training assistance, and highway development.
CarolinaMoney Saver Adds Jobs
In addition, a Florida printing company will receive more than $2 million in state and local incentives to open a printing and distribution plant in Monroe, North Carolina.
Carolina Classifieds.com has landed a performance-based Job Development Investment Grant worth as much as $1.9 million over the next nine years. The local city council also approved $180,000 in local incentives for the facility.
Carolina Classifieds.com plans to move into the former Schrader-Bridgeport International facility in Monroe and produce a weekly magazine called Carolina Money Saver, distributed throughout North Carolina and South Carolina.
The company plans to hire about 287 new employees. In 2004, 130 people were laid off from Schrader-Bridgeport International’s plant.
The new jobs are expected to pay an average annual salary of $33,628.
The company plans to spend nearly $8.8 million to open the facility, with renovations slated for completion in October 2007.