An established insurance business in Richfield and a new architecture/engineering venture in Akron are in line to get state tax credits in exchange for creating about 240 jobs.
National Interstate Corp. of Richfield plans to create the bulk of the jobs: 217 full-time positions. The company sells insurance for passenger, truck, and moving and storage transportation companies.
Prime AE Group Inc., which is opening an office on White Pond Drive in Akron, expects to create 25 full-time jobs.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority, a five-member state board, approved the Ohio Job Creation Tax Credits on Monday. National Insurance would receive tax credits totaling an estimated $1.77 million if it creates the 217 jobs, and Prime would get an estimated $148,000 in credits if it creates the 25 jobs.
Ohio Job Creation Tax Credits are measured as a percentage of the state income tax withholdings for all new employees hired under the tax credit program.
A “Scope of Work” document, provided by Ohio’s Development Services Agency, outlines that the National Interstate Corp. tax credit is incentive for the company to grow employment in Ohio as opposed to Missouri.
National Interstate “has the ability to grow in St. Louis without physically expanding the [company’s] facility” there, according to the Scope of Work.
The proposed project in Richfield involves constructing a new office to house additional staff members.
The company expects to generate nearly $14 million in new annual payroll with the new jobs by Dec. 31, 2020. That averages out to about $64,500 a year per job.
This would be on top of the company’s current $33 million annual payroll in Richfield. The estimated $1.77 million credit would be paid over a period of seven years — if the company creates the jobs in Richfield.
Additionally, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority requires National Interstate, should it expand in Richfield and receive the tax credit, to maintain operations in Richfield for at least 10 years.
National Interstate Corp., founded in 1989, is being bought by its majority shareholder, American Financial Group, also known as AFG. American Financial will pay $32 cash per share for National Interstate. That would work out to about $311 million for the 9.72 million shares AFG does not yet have.
Fast-growing Prime AE, with several existing offices outside Ohio, an office in the Columbus area and a facility in the Cincinnati area, expects to generate nearly $2.25 million in new annual payroll with the 25 new jobs in Akron by the end of 2019. That averages out to $90,000 a year per job.
The Scope of Work document related to the Prime AE project says the tax credit is incentive to get the company to expand in Ohio as opposed to opening another office outside the state.
The estimated $148,000 tax credit would be paid over a period of five years.
The Tax Credit Authority requires Prime AE, should it create the 25 jobs at the new Akron office and receive the tax credit, to maintain operations in Akron for at least eight years.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com. Beacon Journal staff writer Jim Mackinnon contributed to this report.