The $133 million plant expansion of Sony's one million square foot operation in Terre Huate, Ind., will create 85 new jobs. Sony DADC, which currently employs approximately 1,180 associates at the manufacturing and distribution center in Terre Haute, will hire professional staff, engineers, technicians and operators in connection with the expansion plans. The facility currently produces 425,000 Blu-ray Discs per day in addition to compact discs, DVDs and UMDs.
"The rapid adoption of the new Blu-ray Disc format by consumers allows us to quickly expand Blu-ray Disc capacity in the United States. Based on the past experience with manufacturing in Terre Haute, the selection of this facility for the expansion was logical. We are thrilled with the support of the State of Indiana," said Dieter Daum, Executive Chairman of Sony DADC Global.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Sony DADC up to $975,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $655,000 in training grants based on the company's investment and job creation.
Since Blu-ray Disc manufacturing began in Terre Haute in May 2006, the company has produced more than 100 million Blu-ray Discs in its manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Austria and Japan. By October, the three facilities combined will have more than doubled its Blu-ray Disc manufacturing capacity of 21 million discs per month to 47 million discs per month.
Since 2005, Indiana officials have made trade missions to Japan four times. During that period, Japanese companies have invested nearly $1.5 billion in Indiana and created nearly 5,500 new jobs. In total, more than 220 Japanese companies operate in Indiana and employ more than 40,000.
Following the state's 2007 trip to Japan, Toyota Boshoku Corp. made the decision to locate a new seat frame production and assembly facility in Princeton, creating more than 300 jobs. After trips to Japan and Taiwan in 2005 and 2006, Indiana became home to a new Toyota plant in Lafayette, a new Honda plant in Greensburg that will open this fall and employ about 2,000 people and suppliers to those companies, such as TS Tech and Tomasco.
Indiana ranks first in North America in foreign investment for manufacturing jobs, according to a 2007 study from IBM Global Services.
