The company could begin building the new $19.8 million development thissummer, a company spokesman said. It would be the company's first steel coatingfacility.
The state of Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority granted preliminary approval last week to giving $650,000 in tax credits over 10 years.The company has a plant in Wilder at 100 Steel Plant Road, and the new facilitywould be adjacent to the existing one.
The new facility could employ up to 40 people at an average base wage of$10.88 an hour, according to the state. Under the tax credit deal, the company would have to keep 95 percent of its current full-time employees in Wilder. Theplant employs about 370 people.
TMK IPSCO has owned and operated the Wilder facility since 2008, but theplant has operated since 1981 under previous owners. The Wilder plant, which canproduce 570,000 tons of pipe annually, already produces steel pipes used in oiland gas extraction andtransmission.Houston, Texas-based TMK IPSCO chose Kentucky over Iowa and Texas. TMK IPSCO,which has 12 manufacturing facilities, is a subsidiary of Russian manufacturerOAO TMK.
