Tax credit encourages expansion
By John Temple Ligon
Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

Last week a tax credit was approved by the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee. That credit directly targets Michelin North America, based in Greenville but with plants in Laurens, Spartanburg, Duncan, Anderson, and Lexington.

In S.C., Michelin's eight manufacturing plants, its North American research and development center, and its North American headquarters employ 7,600 South Carolinians.

Its Lexington County plant, where Michelin manufactures both passenger and earthmover tires, employs more than 1,500 of the 7,600 total in S.C.

Michelin has capital investments of $2.28 billion in S.C., but the legislators are looking for more. The S.C. politicians lost an opportunity for a research facility perfecting the X One truck tire. The facility went to Canada because Canada offered Michelin an interest- free loan of $9 million in U.S. currency, according to The Greenville News.

The tax credit favoring Michelin is actually available to any company with at least 5,000 employees, a current capital investment of at least $850 million, and the addition of another $350 million more in the state by July 2011.

The word in state economic development circles suggests another 500 jobs are about to be created inside S.C. by Michelin.