High-end tool maker expanding again in Lebanon, adding 65 jobs

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A high-end, power tool manufacturing company is planning to expand its Lebanon facility for the second time in three years.

Festool USA, which relocated to central Indiana from California in 2006, plans to spend $9.3 million to add 80,000 square feet to its facility in the Lebanon Business Park.

The expansion will create up to 65 new jobs in the Boone County community. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Festool up to $560,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans, IEDC communication director Abby Gras told IBJ. 

Lebanon City Council on Monday night approved a six-year property tax abatement for the project, estimated to save the company close to $400,000 over that time period. 

“'Festool is excited to once again expand its facilities in Lebanon,” Festool CFO Brian Goldthorpe said in a media release. “The qualities that drew us to Lebanon 11 years ago have only improved over the years and were a key factor in our decision-making process.”

The announcement comes about three years after the company announced it would spend $6.8 million to double the size of its location at 400 N. Enterprise Drive. The 2015 expansion added about 51,000 square feet to the facility and created 55 new jobs.

Festool currently occupies about 100,000 square feet of space at its headquarters. The 80,000-square-foot expansion of the building will primarily be used for assembly and distribution, although it will include some office uses as well.

Festool USA is a unit of Germany-based Festool Group GmbH & Co., a subsidiary of TTS Tooltechnic Systems AG, a holding company that also owns Honeywell protection equipment and Tyrolt cutting and grinding tools.

“Indiana is recognized as the best state in the Midwest for doing business, and our economic momentum continues to build thanks in large part to our strong manufacturing industry,” Elaine Bedel, president of the IEDC, said in a media release. “Faced with a world of options for growth, global companies like Festool are looking to Indiana and calling on our skilled workforce to move their businesses forward.”

 

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