Miba Sinter USA (a division of Miba AG, Austria; 5251R9N7) has officially opened its new McConnelsville, Ohio manufacturing facility. Miba Sinter is an adjacent but separate business from Miba Bearings U.S.' McConnelsville engine bearing plant. In all, Miba has spent more than USD $30 million over the past two years between Miba Sinter and an expansion at Miba Bearings.

In 2008, McConnelsville won the battle to attract the Miba Sinter plant.

eBearing article: Miba building Sinter group operation in the U.S.
Begun in 2009, the new $16 million Sintered factory is approximately 35,000 square feet and will produce powder metal bearings and drivetrain components, primarily for dual-clutch automotive transmissions and drivetrain component parts for brakes, shocks, and steering gear systems. The facility has been in pre-production since November 2009, is currently running two lines, and expects to begin delivering components sometime in August or September.

Miba said it has put on approximately 60 new workers so far at Miba Sinter, but has plans to add another 20 to staff between there and hiring to staff an ongoing expansion at Miba Bearings.

At Miba Bearing, that project has had the company spending more than $14 million since 2008 to add capacity for next-generation lead-free bearings going into heavy-duty diesel truck engines. Miba Bearing head, Bernie Anderson, noted when it is fully online, the new engine bearing lines will produce up to 4 million main bearings and connecting rod bearings per year.

A brace of executives and politicians were on hand for the Miba Sinter ribbon-cutting ceremony, and tour both plants.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland was there. He said, "We're very thankful to the Miba Group making this decision to invest here in McConnellsville. Few areas have struggled as economically as this part of Ohio. But people here know the meaning of hard work, and we're very proud of our work force here in Ohio."

Peter Mitterbauer, Miba Group CEO and son of the company's founder, was also in attendance from the company's headquarters in Austria. Mr. Mitterbauer said, "We had great support from the local community." Congratulating the Morgan Community Improvement Corporation for its effort in securing the new plant, he said, "Why didn't we go to Mexico or Alabama? Because we got great support from the local McConnelsville community. They did a tremendous sales talk. We also have a highly motivated and skilled workforce here. This is a very special day for us."

To attract Miba Sinter, Ohio and the Morgan County Improvement Corporation (CIC) assembled a $4 million package of incentives. The Development Financing Advisory Council awarded $3.5 million to the CIC as a 204-month term loan at 0% interest, for 12 months, 1% for 13-72, and 2% thereafter.

As part of that package, CIC used the money to build out the Sinter facility to Miba's specifications, then lease it back to Miba.

Miba Sinter will also receive 50% tax credit for seven years. In order to retain the credit, jobs would have to remain there for 14 years.

Miba Bearing Group's CEO, Wolfgang Litzlbauer, was on hand. He said, "McConnelsville has been a stronghold of bearing production for us, for companies like GE and Caterpillar, Daimler and Navistar. We're finding we have a very great team here, previously with Ted McConnel and now with Bernie. Having a highly motivated and skilled workforce here was a major driver for us investing to produce the most modern engine developments worldwide. Technology is a real driver, but also our people here at this facility."

About the Miba Bearing project, Mr. Litzlbauer said, "Being located near the customer is considered an absolute competitive advantage. The (lead-free) bearing technology has been in development since 2004. Miba's high-tech materials are what sold the client on us." He added, "We are the sole supplier for all these new engines, which will go back to Europe and to the Chinese plants. Here in McConnelsville, we will export this high tech product out of the United States."

Mr. Anderson said both facilities were designed with room for additional expansion.

Miba AG is the holding company for a group of original equipment manufacturers which supply the international engine and vehicle industries. Miba Gleitlager AG began in 1947 and is the large-bearing market leader in Europe, second in the world. Its Bearing Group has operations in Austria, Germany, Singapore, Japan and the United States, manufacturing high-performance thinwall and heavywall bearings for diesel and gas engines. For Miba, the Bearing Group accounts for over 32% of corporate-wide sales.