The M.A. Metal building is pictured at 216 N. Main St, Edinburgh. Submitted photo from Google Images
A local metal stamping and assembly company is expanding with a new tax break.
The Edinburgh Town Council approved two 10-year tax abatements for M.A. Metal Company’s investment in real and personal property on Monday. The company is planning to invest approximately $1.275 million in new equipment and approximately $737,500 in building improvements. The expansion will also add 17 new jobs, the company reported to the town council.
M.A. Metal, 216 N. Main St., has produced metal products in Edinburgh since 1946, expanding from a small-scale business to a larger operation with regional and international clients. As the company embarks on a transformation phase, its leaders expect to significantly expand operations, according to the company’s tax abatement application.
The expansion stems from identified opportunities in metal stamping, fabrication and assembly from the current trend to on-shoring manufacturing. The company wants to modernize and reorganize its operations and development methods to capitalized on this, said Daron Dryer, chief operating officer.
The company is expanding to capture new clients in the sectors of work truck bodies, aerospace and agriculture he said.
“Beyond what we’re talking about in this abatement, our plan is to grow that company three to five times in a decade,” Dryer told the town council. “All right, so how do you grow something three to five times in a decade? Well, you got to do something different than what you’re already doing if you haven’t grown … So what we’re looking at accomplishing here is looking at new lines of business.”
The company plans to renovate the approximately 11,000 square feet of the current 54,449 square foot facility to add eight new welding stations and other new equipment, Dryer said. The other additions will include painting booths, material handling systems, and quality control and research development equipment, the application says.
“To do that, you have to shift your thought and also your tooling,” he said. “You need something to move large bodies around. So, we’ll have to invest in the material moving equipment and beyond that, another important thing you have to do if you enter this realm or business segment is you need to be able to finish the component.”
Edinburgh’s location makes it ideal to continue expanding on site, Dryer said.
“One of the things that’s great about Edinburgh or this area in general is that within 500 miles of here, you serve 33% of the nation’s population at least, maybe 60% … ” Dryer said. “So our opportunity is to build here and distribute from the center of the country, where you really have that center of agriculture and that center of work and manufacturing.”
The new vision for the company would give it the opportunity to grow revenue by 50%, Dryer said.
M.A. Metal currently employs 41 people and will hire an additional 17 new full-time employees within two years. This will bring the company to 58 positions earning an average wage of $29.64 per hour, according to the application.
M.A. Metal officials estimate construction on the project will begin Aug. 15 with expected completion by Dec. 31, 2025.
No estimate of tax savings was provided with the application, however, the company will pay some taxes during the abatement periods. Typically a company pays $0 in taxes increasing to nearly full taxes by the end of the 10-year period.
