Spartan Motors to build new $5.5M plant, add jobs in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE - Spartan Motors, the city's largest private-sector employer, will build a new manufacturing plant on its Charlotte campus next year — an expansion that's expected to create an estimated 55 new jobs.

The 85,000-square-foot facility will manufacture and assemble diesel delivery trucks, according to Pat Sall, a senior project manager with Spartan Motors.

Sall presented information about the project last month to Charlotte City Council. He did not specify the client Spartan Motors will be building the vehicles for, but estimated the company will manufacture about 2,000 trucks each year.

Russell Chick, corporate director of marketing for Spartan Motors, did not return phone calls from the State Journal Monday.

The plant will be constructed on Reynolds Road at the former location of Care Free Windows near Spartan Motors current Charlotte campus. Care Free, which manufactured aluminum storm windows and doors, hasn't operated at the property for more than a decade, said city officials.

Spartan Motors, which manufactures specialty chassis and specialty vehicles for the commercial, emergency services and military sectors, owns the property and uses a portion of the grounds for inventory storage, according to Charlotte City Manager Gregg Guetschow.

Sall told officials last month the company plans to tear down the existing 100,000-square-foot structure on the property and spend $5.5 million on the new plant's construction.

Sall didn't specify what the pay range for new jobs will be, but said there's potential for more to be added in the future.

"If the market acceptance is greater than what our customer thinks than a second shift will be added," Sall told city officials last month.

The expansion will come with tax incentives from the city.

Charlotte City Council has already approved an amendment to a Brownfield Redevelopment Plan with the company that allows for the reimbursement of $972,550 in taxes.

"In simplest terms, this means that Spartan will pay property taxes on this new development, and then be reimbursed from these taxes over time until the payback equals $972,550," wrote Community Development Director Bryan Myrkle, in a memo to officials last month.

Officials expect Spartan Motors to apply for a Industrial Facilities Tax Exemption soon as well. It would eliminate 50% of the property taxes owed on the expansion for 12 years.

In total the two incentives amount to $1.67 million in tax relief for the company.

Myrkle said Spartan Motors employs over 600 people at its Charlotte campus and plays an important role in the city's economic base.

"I think Charlotte's economic base is clearly agriculture and manufacturing," he said. "Spartan Motors is a large part of that."

Sall told city officials last month that construction of the new plant will likely begin next February.

Contact Rachel Greco at (517) 528-2075 or rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @GrecoatLSJ.