USB Corp. buyer Affymetrix Inc. to Expand

8/26/2008

The California company that bought USB Corp. in Warrensville Heights early this year plans to create 61 jobs in Ohio within three years.  On Monday, Affymetrix Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif., and USB were approved for an Ohio Job Creation Tax Credit worth about $496,000 over seven years.

That represents a 50 percent credit against the commercial activity or income tax owed by USB, the life-sciences company that also has operations in Maumee.
 
USB makes enzymes, reagents and biochemicals used to do genetic research. Affymetrix also makes genomic measurement tools used to diagnose disease and tailor patient treatments.

USB would use the tax credit to train new workers who likely would hold advanced degrees as well as technical degrees, said Kristen Yakimow, vice president of integration for Affymetrix.

"We have highly trained, highly skilled workers," Yakimow said. "There's a lot of training associated with that."

Affymetrix and USB also have applied for a rapid outreach grant from the Ohio Department of Development. These grants are supposed to help companies or communities create or keep jobs.

Such a grant would help USB retain 63 jobs in Warrensville Heights and 15 in Maumee.

The grant also would help the company expand by about 15,000 square feet at its Miles Road location, said Mike Lachman, senior vice president and general manager of Affymetrix Ohio.

Lachman was USB's chief executive in January when Affymetrix completed its $75 million cash acquisition of the company.

In addition, the grant would help Affymetrix move equipment from its West Sacramento manufacturing facility -- which it is closing -- to Ohio, Yakimow said.

Affymetrix is consolidating manufacturing operations at USB and at a plant in Singapore to save money, the company said in July.

The expansion at USB is contingent upon Affymetrix getting the rapid response grant, Yakimow said.

The Santa Clara company chose to expand at USB partly because of the incentive package put together by Team NEO, BioEnterprise and the Ohio Department of Development, Yakimow said.

"That team really made this possible," she said.

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