Fuyao to add 100 jobs in Moraine, plans $46M investment

Fuyao Glass America announced an expansion that will add 100 jobs and $46 million in new production equipment at the company’s Moraine plant.

In a visit to the plant Monday, Gov. Mike DeWine called the expansion a “happy day” for the Miami Valley and said the company’s total $600 million investment since 2014 is the largest in Ohio by a Chinese company.

“It is great to start the new year with a new investment that will bring 100 more jobs to Fuyao’s Moraine facility,” DeWine said. “This expansion further consolidates Fuyao’s footprint in Ohio and demonstrates confidence in the people who are on the job here.”

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The project includes investment for research and development as well as purchasing equipment to help produce more after-market auto glass for companies such as Safelite, which is headquartered in nearby Columbus. The company also will acquire an additional 161,000 square-feet at the Moraine facility.

“The automotive industry is global, and without our initial investment in the U.S., Fuyao wouldn’t have been able to grow and support our many great customers,” said Fuyao Global Chairman Cho Tak Wong. “The state of Ohio, JobsOhio, the Dayton Development Coalition, Montgomery County, the city of Moraine, and many others have provided critical support to Fuyao since we first arrived in Ohio in 2014. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to a bright future here.”

Fuyao first invested in Moraine in 2014, initially committing to create 800 jobs for its customers in the shell of a former General Motors assembly plant. In 2015, the company committed to create 750 additional jobs to manufacture after-market glass. Today, the company has 2,300 employees at the West Stroop Road plant.

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“We and our local partners appreciate the investments Fuyao has made in Moraine to create jobs as well as its philanthropy to support the local community,” said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio president and chief investment officer. “As Fuyao continues to grow in Ohio, we are not only strengthening our business ties, we are reminded of what can be achieved when people from different countries and cultures work together.”

The investment goes well beyond a new employee cafeteria, which involved an investment of about $1.5 million, said Mike Davis, Moraine city manager.

“The future is looking pretty good,” Davis said Monday.

Chinese officials at the plant Monday expressed the hope that Fuyao’s example demonstrates that when the United States and China work together, the outcome is often mutually beneficial.

“I strongly believe that when we work together, we can build a very good relationship,” said Huang Ping, Chinese consul general in New York City.

He decried the “trade war” between the U.S. and China. “Stop this trade war, which has been going on for two years already.”

President Donald Trump has said the two nations will sign a trade agreement Jan. 15, and he plans to visit Beijing later to open another round of talks aimed at resolving other continuing sticking points in the U.S.-Chinese relationship.

China has agreed to boost its U.S. goods imports by $200 billion over two years, the U.S. trade representative said last month when the deal was first announced. That includes increased purchases of soybeans and other farm goods that would reach $40 billion a year, purchases that will be important to Ohio and other Midwestern farmers.

 

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