WILA is relocating their USA headquarters to Louisville, with the goal of creating 24 jobs and establishing operations with a $11.5 million investment, according to an announcement Monday by Gov. Andy Beshear.
WILA is a Dutch company that produces tooling systems for sheet metals.
In March, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority preliminarily approved a 10-year incentive agreement with the company under the Kentucky Business Investment program. The agreement will provide WILA with tax incentives of up to $675,000 for meeting annual targets.
Those targets include creation of 24 full-time jobs over 10 years and paying an average hourly wage of $42.77, which includes the calculated cost of benefits.
βWe are excited to relocate our corporate headquarters to Louisville and establish our North American manufacturing operations,β Hans Willemsen, CEO of WILA, said in a news release. βThis strategic move will allow us to strengthen our market presence, improve customer service and further collaborate with our valued partners in North America. We are confident that our investment in Louisville will accelerate our growth and enable us to better serve the evolving needs of our customers.β
The company employs about 350 people across their two factories in the Netherlands and branches in the U.S. and China. Its current North American headquarters is in Maryland.
According to the news release, WILA will move into an existing 52,000-square-foot building with manufacturing infrastructure.
Beshear said in the announcement that he looks forward to watching WILAβs successes in Kentucky.