Milwaukee Electric Tool Co. will begin phasing in workers at its new Greenwood plant next week.
Thirty employees, who have taken a three-week training course at Mississippi Delta Community College, will start assembling Milwaukee's line of power tools Wednesday. Thirty more will begin work Jan. 14.
The company plans to reach its goal of 200 employees early next fall, plant manager Dan Temple said.
"We are excited about being here," said Temple.
The majority of the newly hired employees are from Greenwood, Indianola and other communities around Greenwood, he said.
Temple said some of the group had previously worked at Baldwin Piano & Organ Co. and Uniek Inc., both of which closed Greenwood manufacturing plants earlier this year.
Milwaukee Tool, founded in 1924, makes more than 400 models of electric tools, including drills, circular saws, grinders, reciprocating saws and rotary hammers. Its products are designed for builders, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and other professional users.
The Leflore County Board of Supervisors welcomed the company to its new plant, formerly occupied by Takata Inc., by offering it tax exemptions according to the GAP (Growth and Prosperity) program.
As one of Mississippi's 13 GAP counties, Leflore can offer 10-year tax exemptions from state income, franchise, use and sales taxes. The county qualified for the program because of its poverty rate.
Milwaukee Tool will also receive a 10-year exemption on local property taxes, worth about $32,000 a year for the building and an undetermined amount for machinery, said Leroy Ware, county tax assessor.
The exemptions exclude only a general state tax of 3.83 mills and local school taxes, for which Milwaukee Tool will contribute over $70,000 per year, said Mark Aquadro, the company's attorney.
Donnie Brock, chairman of the Greenwood-Leflore Industrial Board, called the exemption plan "an inducement to Milwaukee Tool to come in as a corporate citizen here." The company's senior vice president of operations, Harry Peterson, has estimated the incentives will save Milwaukee Tool $200,000 to $300,000 a year in taxes for the first five years.
In approving the tax-exemption measure, supervisors considered the wage rate and benefit packages that Milwaukee Tool will offer its Greenwood employees.
To determine a competitive wage rate, company officials met with representatives from Viking Range Corp. Wages will be comparable to those Viking Range pays its manufacturing employees, who earn an average of $8 an hour.
Milwaukee Tool will also offer benefits packages that include full medical and dental coverage, requiring no contributions from employees, and a retirement program, which Aquadro called "a very lucrative package." Employees will chose either a profit-sharing or investment plan, both based on their annual salary.
Milwaukee Tool is relocating its parts manufacturing operation from its headquarters in Wisconsin to its Jackson plant, which opened in 1973. The Greenwood plant will absorb the tool assembly operation from the Jackson plant. Temple said the Jackson plant will continue to build tools as the transition takes place.
Milwaukee Tool also has plants in Kosciusko and Blytheville, Ark.
