Cincinnati Machine plans expansion in Kentucky

Machine tool builder Cincinnati Machine LLC (http://cinmach.mag-ias.com) is planning an expansion that would add 127 jobs over the next two years in Boone County, Ky.

The company, once part of Cincinnati Milling Machine (later Cincinnati Milacron), is one of several global “centers of excellence” being created by MAG Industrial Automation Systems (www.mag-ias.com), part of privately held Maxcor Inc., which acquired the company in 2005.

Plans are still being developed but Cincinnati Machine, which employs 475 in Northern Kentucky, plans to lease up to 151,200 square feet in an undisclosed building nearby and invest about $2.8 million in new equipment. Plans are to produce machine tools, sophisticated machines used by other manufacturers to cut and form metal, and other precision components for other MAG operations.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority last week gave preliminary approval to a $1.9 million tax credit for the project. Average hourly wages are estimated at $27.82 for the new jobs.

Jamie Leininger, Cincinnati Machine spokesperson, said today all the details haven’t been completed but the company hopes to make an announcement by the end of September. She said she didn’t know how many of the jobs in the new facility would be new hires versus transfers from other operations. “This is a global business and it’s pretty exciting,’’ said Leininger.

MAG, which has assembled a network of a dozen global machine tool companies, employs 4,500 with sales last year of $1.5 billion. Since the 2005 acquisition, Cincinnati Machine’s employment has increased about 30 percent. The company, a leading supplier of sophisticated composite carbon fiber placement equipment, has benefited from the resurgence in the international aerospace market. In addition to its main 250,000 square-foot plant and headquarters, the company has expanded into a second, 51,000 square foot building in Hebron, which houses its Maintenance Technologies business, providing after sale service and support.