The City Council on Monday approved the expenditure of economic development funds to help facilitate the planned expansion of ABB’s facilities and employee base in Bartlesville.
The council voted 5-0 to approve a recommendation from the Bartlesville Development Authority to allocate up to $900,000 for up to 60 new full-time employees ($15,000 per job) and to appropriate up to $600,000 to fund the Resident Recruitment Employee Incentive for up to 60 new residents. Both are associated with ABB’s expansion, to take place over 36 months. ABB is located in the Bartlesville Industrial Park.
“ABB is expanding its Bartlesville operations by adding a 12,000-square-foot calibration facility on to their existing manufacturing footprint,” said BDA President David Wood. “This will involve the purchase of a 4,000-square-foot BDA-owned facility directly east of the existing ABB operation as well as portions of BDA owned land surrounding the existing facility. This request is for allocation of funds from the economic development fund related to job creation and resident recruitment.”
BDA Trustees approved the land and building sale in the amount of $425,000 at their Oct. 25 meeting, and voted to extend for an additional three years ABB’s existing Right of First Refusal for acquiring approximately 16 acres of adjacent property at no cost for potential future development at a ratio of 7,500 sq ft of new interior space per acre, Wood said.
The Resident Recruitment Employee Incentive program provides for the following for each full-time employee eligible for the program:
- $10,000 cash assistance for the purchase of a primary residence within the city limits
- $20,000 cash assistance for new construction of a primary residence within the city limits
- $10,000 cash assistance for new construction of a primary residence outside the city limits but within the Bartlesville School District
According to a press release issued by ABB, the company will consolidate and expand its North American instrumentation manufacturing in Bartlesville in 2024 and construct a new 12,000-square-foot calibration hall on the factory site, increasing ABB’s “Made in America” offering.
“By consolidating the production of several instrumentation product lines in a single, world-class North American facility, ABB can serve its local customers better and strengthen its instrumentation offering to the local market,” said Amina Hamidi, managing director, ABB Measurement & Analytics, Business Line Instrumentation.