Over the past year in economic development circles, states and localities have double-checked or tightened up their incentives programs because of the Cuno v. DaimlerChrysler incentives case that has now made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court docket, with a ruling expected in early 2006.

The most challenging aspect of the DaimlerChrysler supplier complex in Toledo was not the Cuno case, but the squeezing in of a new trim and final shop that had to adjoin two existing Chrysler buildings. Scott Libbe (inset), executive vice president of Rudolph/Libbe Inc. and a past chairman of the Regional Growth Partnership of northwest Ohio, calls the execution of the three projects on the briefest of timelines a "minor miracle." Front to back, the three new facilities are from suppliers KUKA and Mobis (OMMC), with the Chrysler DCX Trim and Final building at the top of this aerial image.

Meanwhile, the projects associated with that DCX expansion continued to unfold in Toledo, molded like finely crafted wood joints to the existing operations.
   Rudolph/Libbe Companies was the design/build contractor for three buildings at the Chrysler Group's project, two for suppliers on land leased from DCX (a KUKA body shop and Hyundai Mobis-owned rolling chassis operation), and one for an expansion to the Jeep Toledo North assembly plant's trim/final facility. And fast-track was the order of the day: Construction began in early 2005, and production should be under way in mid-2006. Scott Libbe, executive vice president of Rudolph/Libbe Inc. and a past chairman of the Regional Growth Partnership of northwest Ohio, calls the execution of the projects a "minor miracle."
   "They are three pretty good sized plants on a very tight site, constructed on a fast-track design-build basis," he says. The Kuka body shop was 340,000 sq. ft. (31,586 sq. m.), the Mobis plant was 208,000 sq. ft. (19,323 sq. m.) and the trim expansion was 245,000 sq. ft. (22,761 sq. m.). That last project was perhaps the most challenging, says Libbe, as it had to be squeezed into the site and then joined to two of the existing Chrysler buildings.
   "Making that connection and designing an addition for that whole two lengths was interesting," says Libbe. "And we had to figure out a way to do it without affecting their production." Meanwhile speed was of the essence.
   "The body shop was designed and built in eight months," says Libbe. "We're now installing equipment on schedule and within budget. The Mobis piece was designed and built in six and a half months, and the DCX trim and final facility is wrapping up now ... it began in May and completes in December. That's a pretty aggressive schedule for design and construction for an automotive plant."
   In some ways, the tightness of the site and the schedule contributed to effective execution because of sheer proximity: "The projects were staggered just enough to take advantage of that," says Libbe. At the same time, it was three different design-build jobs, performed for three separate clients.
   "But once we got the Kuka project, it allowed us to capitalize on the economies of scale," says Libbe. "We built all three out of the same double-wide trailer with our field staff. And when you can move equipment from one site to the next, that helps."
   Cuno is not the only business climate issue still up in the air in Ohio and environs. Asked about the effects of Ohio's tax reform on his company and the industry as a whole, Robert Pruger, CFO for The Rudolph Libbe Companies, Inc., a holding company, says there is not a huge difference for a company like his, but it is a net increase, "because we never paid franchise tax.
   "We're sort of holding our breath as to whether this change will have the anticipated positive economic change everybody expects," he continues. "Ohio had significantly lower growth than other midwestern states over the past 20 years, and it was perceived to be because of the tax structure. The general feeling is that this will increase economic activity, with greater growth in comparison to competing states. We don't know. But we had to do something."
   Pruger says the reform's five-year phase-in precludes knowing for a while, although mid-2007 ought to provide the first clue as the company assesses 2006 numbers.
   Some state lawmakers are getting a jump-start on the next round of fixes: Jon Husted, R-Kettering and Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, recently announced a proposed measure that would implement a sliding scale criteria allowing large automotive companies to more easily qualify for the state's 75-percent Ohio Job Retention tax credit.
   In the meantime, on Nov. 8, 2005, Ohio voters passed Issue 1, the Jobs for Ohio bond initiative, which provides $2 billion toward economic development, with up to two-thirds of that money targeted for infrastructure projects. Among the initiative's provisions is up to $500 million in technology R&D and commercialization grants, and up to $150 million in grants to prepare "job-ready" industrial sites.