Columbus has approved two tax abatements for Tulip Richardson Manufacturing, a Wisconsin-based company whose subsidiary, Richardson Molding, operates in the Woodside Industrial Complex.
City council members on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution granting two tax abatements that are expected to save Tulip Richardson Manufacturing a combined total of around $103,000 in real and personal property taxes over a 10-year period, said Robin Hilber, assistant director of community development.
As part of the agreement, the company plans to invest $2.7 million to install new manufacturing equipment at its facility at 2405 Norcross Drive, $250,000 to expand the Columbus facility and add 19 jobs this year with an average wage of $28 per hour, city officials said. Currently, the company employs 115 people locally.
“They’re actually bringing manufacturing down here that was previously done in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,” Hilber said. “They feel like that this is going to be very successful and they’re going to be able to double the size (of the Columbus facility) the next few years.”
The manufacturing equipment that the company plans to install at its Columbus facility is related to the production of battery terminals, company officials said.
Richardson Molding produces more than 8 million battery containers, cases and jars per year for the energy storage, automotive, industrial and commercial industries.
The company, which city officials said has operated in Columbus since the mid-1980s, merged with Tulip Molded Plastics Corp. in March 2019 to form Tulip Richardson Manufacturing.
“We really look at (the Columbus expansion) as a gateway project for our company,” said Steve Dyer, president and COO of Richardson Molding, during the city council meeting. “This is really just phase one of a multi-phase plan which will, in my opinion, almost double the size of our facility in the next five years.”
