.png)
Through its partnership with the Birmingham Business Alliance, automotive parts supplier and manufacturer, Valeo North America, is extending its reach into Bessemer, Alabama with a $5 million investment that will activate 84,000 square feet of space in the city’s Perimeter Industrial Park. The move will also create 70 jobs with an average pay of $50,000.
Valeo’s North American headquarters is based in Michigan but headquartered in France. The company has 11 production sites, 3 development centers and almost 5,000 employees on U.S. soil. As such, Valeo is one of the largest global automotive suppliers and boasts Mercedes as a premier client.
The planned Birmingham facility will expand the supply chain for Mercedes’ upcoming line of electric vehicles. Operations at the Perimeter Industrial Park location are expected to be fully functional later this year.
According to the Birmingham Business Journal, Valeo received a tax incentive package worth $363,023 over 10 years. Dollars from state, county, and city taxes, excluding monies earmarked for education, will fund the deal. Additionally, the Alabama Industrial Development Training program will assist Valeo with hiring and training at a cost of $782,800.
Securing the financial incentives to bring Valeo to Alabama was a joint effort by the City of Bessemer, Jefferson County, the Alabama Department of Commerce, and the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA).
In a statement released by the BBA, Valeo North America praised the state for its “business friendly, pro-jobs attitude.”
Former state legislator and current Secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce, Greg Canfield, called Valeo a “world-class auto supplier and a superb addition to the auto industry supply chain network spreading across the state.”
“Automotive manufacturing is a vital part of Jefferson County’s economy that continues to see immense growth annually,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons.
“Valeo North America is expanding our city’s growing industrial roster and bringing expanded opportunity for residents of Bessemer and surrounding areas,” remarked Bessemer Mayor Kenneth Gulley. “We thank Valeo North America for its investment in our city and we look forward to working with the company for years to come.”
Alabama continues to grow as an auto manufacturing and supply hub. Mobis, a Tier 1 supplier for the state’s Hyundai manufacturing plant and Georgia’s Kia manufacturing plant, made a November announcement to add 120 jobs to the local economy via a $15.8 million operation in Jefferson County.
Comments