Manufacturer buys local site

By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com

June 26, 2009 11:02 pm

— American Leakless Company LLC has purchased 11.7 acres in Martin Luther King Industrial Park to build a new manufacturing facility.
The company doing business in Athens since 1992 as McCord Leakless Sealing Co. as a join venture between Nippon Leakless and Federal Mogul, announced earlier this year that it was dissolving to form American Leakless.
The company secured from the city abatements of all state and local non-education taxes for 10 years and all non-construction related sales taxes in early May.
The 10-year abatement in ad valorem taxes would be $24,433 and one time sales tax abatement of $52,500.
There is no one being hired immediately, but American Leakless officials said they would take 40 of the 90 employees that worked for McCord Leakless to the new industrial site.
The two companies agreed to separate the production of sealing products, according to Limestone County Economic Development Association president Tom Hill.
Federal Mogul will continue to operate in its current location at 1500 Freeman Avenue.
Friday, the City Council unanimously voted to sell the tract in MLK Park to American Leakless for $253,256.18.
“We’ve come a long way to this point,” said American Leakless CEO Toshio Horiuchi.
“We are excited about building our new factory here.”
American Leakless Materials Manager Yuk Ito said the company has hired an architect and construction could begin as early as late July.
American Leakless officials are setting a March 2010 deadline for completion of the first phase, upon which the company will immediately move the 40 employees and begin production, Hill said.
Hill said that as automotive industry sales improve, more employees would be hired. He said 200 employees would remain at Federal Mogul following the move.