| Btaon Rouge: Governor Bobby Jindal joined Orion Instruments General Manager Don Sanders, East Baton Rouge City/Parish Mayor Kip Holden, Baton Rouge Area Chamber President Adam Knapp and others to announce that Orion Instruments will expand its operations in Baton Rouge, La. Orion will invest $5 million in the expansion and will create 35 new jobs averaging $40,000, plus benefits, while retaining 70 existing positions. The project will also lead to the creation of 61 permanent, new, indirect jobs.
"This is a great win for the Capital Region and our entire state -- and it's another example that our commitment to business retention and expansion is creating good jobs while helping to retain our existing jobs," said Gov. Jindal. "We'll continue to focus on growing the companies that are already here while also aggressively pursuing new business investment to increase the economic momentum of our state."
Orion Instruments, a subsidiary of Magnetrol International, will relocate from its current 18,000-square-foot facility on Complex Drive to a site on Oak Villa Blvd. in Baton Rouge, where it will develop a facility with up to 60,000 square feet of space. Louisiana Economic Development estimates that the expansion project will generate more than $4.1 million in new state tax revenues and nearly $2.8 million in new local tax revenues over a 15- year period.
Jeff Swallow, Magnetrol International executive vice president and chief operating officer, said the company is "very excited about this new facility and the additional opportunities for Orion Instruments in Louisiana. No one predicted how successful this little company could become in eight short years. However, we'll expand and continue the growth cycle for as long as we can up to and including either adding on or moving to even a larger facility in the next eight years."
"Orion's expansion and its commitment to Baton Rouge is another reason that our economy remains strong at a time when many American cities are having difficulty weathering the recession," said Holden.
Orion Instruments is expected to use the Quality Jobs Program, Economic Development Loan Opportunity Program (specifically a performance-based, 5-year, $350,000 loan with a forgivable interest feature) and Industrial Tax Exemption Program. In addition, the company has been offered a local Enterprise Zone Program incentive by East Baton Rouge Parish, which includes a 1.9 percent rebate of sales and use taxes within the parish.
"Since taking office early last year, we have made retaining and growing existing Louisiana companies our top economic development priority," said LED Secretary Stephen Moret. "Each time we help secure a business expansion, we create two wins for our state -- not only do we benefit from new job creation but we also benefit from more definitively securing our existing Louisiana jobs."
"BRAC targets its strategy to support the growth of existing businesses, and we are very pleased by Orion Instruments' decision to expand," stated Knapp. "They employ an extremely diverse employee base, the majority of which are knowledge-based jobs, and also export to global markets that generates tremendous wealth for the Baton Rouge area. Congratulations to the employees and management for this important moment in the company's history."
"Orion Instruments thanks the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Mayor Holden, Secretary Moret and Gov. Jindal for their pursuit and commitment to support our expansion and retain our business in EBR Parish and the state of Louisiana," said Sanders. "Their perseverance to promote the qualities of our state is unparalleled. They have succeeded in securing out-of-state investment from Magnetrol resulting in a bright future for Louisiana residents and a continuation of Orion's phenomenal growth. The combined spirit and perseverance of EBR Parish, the state of Louisiana leadership and the Orion team is the key to excellence. Orion and Magnetrol are committed to the growth of the Louisiana economy."
Orion Instruments designs, manufactures and sells sensing and processing instrumentation, such as industrial process type level and bulk measuring instruments, relays and industrial controls, electrical equipment and supplies, metal cutting machine tools and current-carrying wiring devices
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