Manufacturer planning expansion, 100 jobs in Boone County

CNH Parts & Service, the product-support division of international manufacturing giant CNH Global NV, plans a $13.3 million expansion in Lebanon that will result in 100 new jobs by 2014, the company announced Monday night.

Racine, Wis.-based CNH, which already has more than 500 full-time employees and 200 contract employees in Lebanon, said it will lease and equip an additional 153,000-square-foot facility in Lebanon Business Park, bringing its total footprint at the site to 1.2 million square feet in three buildings.

When it becomes fully operational in 2014, the new facility will serve as the command-and-control operation for CNH's extensive parts-delivery system.

CNH Global, which makes agricultural and construction equipment, employs 33,800 worldwide. Its products include tractors, combines, loaders, backhoes and excavators. It operates 11 parts-distribution facilities in North America and has a network of 11,500 dealers in 170 countries. The company was formed in 1999 through a merger of New Holland NV and Case Corp.

CNH said it has already begun hiring new material handlers, equipment operators, packagers, and logistics, administrative and support personnel in Lebanon.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered CNH up to $650,000 in conditional tax credits and as much as $100,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. Lebanon approved additional tax abatement at the request of the Boone County Economic Development Corp.

"This new processing center will significantly enhance and expand the overall capabilities of our North American parts operations," said Scott Harris, vice president of CNH Parts & Service for North America, in a prepared statement. "Its mission is to provide new and highly specialized services that will help our dealers grow their parts sales, even in the most highly competitive segments of our business."