Rightway Fasteners planning $13 million expansion

Rightway Fasteners is planning a $13 million dollar investment at its International Drive plant in Columbus.

The company which makes specialty fasteners, primarily for the auto industry, is adding eight new machines to respond to an increase of production volume. Those will include four cold-forging machines, two thread-rolling machines, a heat-treatment furnace and a coating machine. Company officials said they are expecting an increased volume of 20 to 30 percent next year.

The company, in a filing with the city, says it plans to add nine new employees and to retain 438 existing jobs after the expansion. The new jobs which would be added by the end of next year would have an an average starting hourly wage of $15 an hour, according to Robin Hilber with the city’s community development department. The company’s average wage for employees is more than $18 an hour.

The company was approved for a property tax break last night by Columbus City Council.

The company asked the city for an abatement on the property taxes for the new equipment, which means the taxes will be phased in over 10 years. The tax abatement would save the company just over $449 thousand dollars over the 10-year-life of the abatement but the company would also be paying nearly $302 thousand dollars more in property taxes than it is now.

Hilber said that RIghtway Fasteners has 11 ongoing property tax abatements. The company started in 1991 with 13 employees, she said.