Automotive parts supplier building factory in Napoleon

7/30/2018

NAPOLEON — A Michigan automotive parts supplier that makes roof racks and other exterior accessories for General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, and a number of other major automakers is in the process of building a new factory in Napoleon.

JAC Products Inc. expects to create more than 350 jobs, Ohio officials said. On Monday, the state granted the company a 10-year, 1.561 percent job creation tax credit. 

A company spokesman told The Blade that JAC Products hopes to have the factory up and running by early 2019. The plant is expected to make parts for several different customers.

Founded in 1967, JAC Products is a leading designer of functional automotive trim parts. The company primarily focuses on roof racks, running boards, and cargo management systems. According to its website the firm supplies more than 20 automakers worldwide.

In Napoleon, JAC Products plans to double the size of a recently completed 100,000-square-foot speculative building on the city’s northwest side near U.S. Rt. 24.

That building, which just received its certificate for occupancy last week, was put up by local developer Sean Rupp in cooperation with the Community Improvement Corporation of Henry County.

Denise Dahl, the economic development group’s executive director, said it was important for the community to have modern, usable factory space available when manufacturers come calling.

“If you don’t have that building ready to go, they don’t have time to wait for you to build it,” Ms. Dahl said. “I think this was most certainly the case in this instance. Prior to JAC, we had a couple people look and because it wasn’t done yet, they went into fully complete buildings in a different county or different area.”

The state did not say how much JAC Products is investing in the project. A company spokesman said more details on the project should be available later this week.

JAC Products is based in Pontiac, Mich., and has two manufacturing locations in Michigan and a third in Georgia. The firm once had a plant in Monclova Township, though that facility closed its doors in early 2009 as the company consolidated some of its operations in the face of rising fuel and logistics costs.

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com, 419-724-6134, or on Twitter @TyrelLinkhorn.