A Merced truck parts assembly plant is planning to double the size of its production plant and hire 20 to 30 additional employees in the next year.

The 36,000-square-foot Arvin Sango factory will expand to about 70,000 square feet to accommodate the production of Toyota Corolla exhaust assemblies. It is located on Cooper Avenue off of Highway 59.

It employs 67 full-time workers.

Jeffry Jones, plant manager, said the expansion is driven by Toyota's desire to move Corolla parts production to Merced from its Indiana plant.

"It's forcing us to grow the facility to be closer to the assembly plant in Fremont," Jones said. "It's more along the Toyota production philosophy."

The company manufactures Toyota Tacoma truck parts and a subassembly for the Corolla. It opened the Merced plant in August 1995.

The company formed in 1986 as a joint venture between Sango Co. of Japan and the North American automotive division of Arvin Industries.

The expansion at the new plant will be connected to the existing plant.

Most of the jobs created will be production, but it will be hard to find qualified people with experience in robotics and high-level automation, he said.

Jones declined to say how much the plant's jobs pay. Expected revenue growth figures are still unknown, he added. The company generates annual revenue of about $30 million.

The city of Merced, the county and Atwater are in an enterprise zone that offers different tax credit programs to businesses, according to Frank Quintero, development manager for the city of Merced.

The credits are used to attract businesses and help them with expansion.

Jones said the company has enjoyed benefits from being in the zone.

"There's been great tax incentives regarding new equipment and growing our production areas," he said.

Although the city hasn't calculated the economic impact of the expansion, it is an overall boost.

"Any time there's an increase in jobs, it benefits the economy," Quintero said. "It generates more sales tax revenue and property tax revenue."

Read the original story at The Merced Sun-Star website.