Grants, tax credits packaged to lure Chrysler

State offers $8.6M in benefits for Toledo Machining upgrade

Chrysler recently announced plans for a $72 million upgrade to its Toledo Machining Plant in Perrysburg.

The state is offering nearly $8.6 million in incentives to support Chrysler Group LLC's $72 million upgrade of its Toledo Machining Plant, the Ohio Department of Development said Wednesday.

The incentive package includes a $3.3 million job retention tax credit and a $4.4 million sales tax exemption for machinery and equipment. Chrysler also is being offered $850,000 in grants to help pay for new machinery at the Perrysburg Township factory.

Chrysler announced Tuesday that it will invest $72 million to produce improved torque converters and steering columns for the automaker's next generation of front and rear-drive automobiles. The investment will pay for the installation of new equipment and special tooling to upgrade the 45-year-old plant.

The investment will not add jobs or bring an expansion to the plant, which is along the Ohio Turnpike. But it will preserve 640 hourly and salaried workers there, the automaker said.

"Without a collaborative state effort, this work could have been allocated to a different Chrysler plant, putting 640 jobs at risk and jeopardizing the stability of the plant," the development department said in a statement. Nearly all torque converters and steering columns that go into Chrysler vehicles are made at the suburban Toledo plant.

Chrysler's pending job retention tax credit will be considered for approval Monday by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority in Columbus. The grants are expected to be approved in October by the state Controlling Board.