DELAWARE — California experienced a gold rush just before the Civil War. Delaware is experiencing a jobs rush right now.
A proposed second industrial park and PPG Industries’ expansion are already old news.
Onda is the latest entity to expand in the city. The company is growing its manufacturing footprint in Delaware with a $15 million investment that will build a facility at 115 Innovation Court. Onda intends to lease the new building and hire 100 new employees.
“It’s a very good project for us,” Delaware Economic Development Director Nic Langford said. “We were competing with other states for Onda’s new location.”
The expansion was announced Monday via a press release from Gov. Mike DeWine’s office and the Ohio Department of Development.
Onda is a subsidiary of Wieland, one of the world’s leading suppliers of semi-finished copper and copper alloy products for automotive, electronics, refrigeration, air conditioning and other industries, according to the release.
Onda U.S.A LLC expects to generate more than $6.7 million in new annual payroll by Dec. 31, 2029, from the Delaware expansion, according to the press release.
The proposed 100,000-square-foot project at Innovation Court will expand Onda’s manufacturing capabilities to increase production caused by rising demand, the release stated.
Wieland, headquartered in Germany, acquired Onda in 2024 and integrated the company into its thermal solutions platform. The new facility will manufacture heat exchangers that remove heat from cooling systems, “helping data centers operate reliably,” according to a Jobs Ohio release.
Onda has occupied a facility at 600 London Road near Howald Industrial Park since 2016. It will continue to operate at that facility as well as the new one, which is under construction now, near the Delaware Municipal Airport, Langford said.
Wieland Operations Excellence Manager Andrea Bianco spoke at Monday’s Delaware City Council meeting.
“On behalf of Wieland, I would like to sincerely thank you, the city of Delaware, for its support and warm welcome,” Bianco said. “We are proud to expand our operations here with a new facility and the creation for molding and other new jobs.”
Tax credits and grants for the project
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a 1.4%, eight-year Job Creation Tax Credit for the project.
The Job Creation Tax Credit is a performance-based, refundable tax incentive that rewards businesses for expanding operations or creating new high-paying jobs in the state.
It’s a refundable and performance-based tax credit calculated as a percentage of created payroll and applied toward the company’s commercial activity tax liability.
In addition, Delaware City Council approved a performance-based Economic Development Incentive Grant Agreement with Onda on Monday.
“[The agreement is] basically to split income taxes with Onda for five years once they start operations [only at the new location], and it’s really as simple as that,” Langford told council.
The agreement excludes the existing employees at the London Road site, and authorizes no fixed grant amount.
“If eligible payroll or withholding is lower than projected, the city payment automatically decreases,” a city document states. “If no eligible withholding is generated, no payment is due.
“The grant is a performance-based payment calculated by reference to actual receipts; it is not an exemption, credit, refund or rebate of municipal income tax. All taxes remain due and payable in full.”
More industrial expansions from around the city
Onda isn’t the only one to announce industrial service expansions in Delaware recently.
In July, Sam Dong Ohio announced plans to invest more than $13 million to expand its manufacturing facility on Pittsburgh Drive, creating 30 new jobs, according to a release from the city of Delaware.
Sam Dong’s expansion includes installing new copper casting equipment that will more than double the company’s oxygen-free copper rod production.
Once complete, Sam Dong’s Delaware facility will become the largest producer of oxygen-free copper rod in North America, according to the city’s release.
Earlier this month, PPG broke ground on a $280 million expansion at its Delaware manufacturing facility, which will add a new 100,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility and create 100 new full-time jobs.
