PICKAWAY COUNTY, Ohio — Defense manufacturer Anduril has plans to transform Pickaway County with a new five million square foot facility near Rickenbacker Airport. The project, expected to bring over 4,000 new jobs to Ohio by 2035, marks the largest single job creation and new payroll initiative in the state’s history.

State leaders, including Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, said the mega project reinforced Ohio’s position as a leader in advanced technology and national security.

Tax Incentives

Last month, Governor DeWine and Ohio Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik announced the approval of significant state tax incentives to support the project. According to terms unanimously approved by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority, Anduril Industries will receive employment tax credits for 30 years worth an estimated $452 million. The exact amount will be based on the number of workers the company hires.

“One of the things that we require is guarantees from the company,” Pickaway County Commissioner Jay Wippel said. “They have milestones to reach, including adding so many jobs and payroll over a period of time. We monitor that through our tax incentive review council, and we have clawbacks. That may not be popular with companies, but if you don’t reach your milestones, the taxpayers deserve some of that money back.”

I wouldn’t bet against Anduril. – Tim Colburn, Executive Director, Pickaway Progress Partnership

“Anduril will have to report their performance, and we will have specific measures in the contract that say, you need to report those measures, and if they don’t meet them, this is what we do,” Tim Colburn, Executive Director, Pickaway Progress Partnership said. “If you don’t do that, you will have to repay.”

In addition to the $452 million dollars in tax credits, the state will also spend another $70 million to help with infrastructure and other road improvements on Anduril’s sites.

“That money is for infrastructure in general,” Wippel said. “Roads, taxiways, sewer, water lines, all those things that need to be extended to that property.”

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Jobs

Pickaway County residents told ABC6 they believed the significant number of direct and indirect jobs Anduril promises to provide would be transformative for their families and the community.

“It’s going to bring a lot of jobs this area needs,” Pickaway County resident William Speakman said. “I would love to work there. It would be a major improvement in my life.”

Pickaway County leaders said they are making workforce development a priority and Anduril has promised to work with school districts in an effort to hire local people.

“Anduril’s definition of success is, let me train a 6th grader today, and when they get to be 18, we can hire them, and someday they will help us lead this facility,” Colburn said. “That tells me we are going to hire local people and develop local people.”

Commissioner Wippel said he believed the jobs at Anduril would be attainable for a variety of the Pickaway County population.

“There is diversity of jobs within Anduril, whether it’s assembly line, engineers, all kinds of things,” Wippel said. “I think there will be diversity for all ages to attain.”

Housing

Pickaway County leaders said there are plans in place to continue adding more housing county-wide.

“In Circleville, I know they’ve got several locations that they’re developing into residential, different types of residences including single-family and multifamily apartments. I think they’ve got close to 2,400 units that they’re working on there,” Wippel said. “The northern part of the county continues to grow, including in Commercial Point and Ashville. There are also some developments being built in South Bloomfield as well.”

“We have assessed where we have deficiencies and we’re trying to find developers who want to build product to build our inventory,” Colburn said. “One of our strategies is to make sure we can be affordable to all people at their points of entry into the housing market.”

County leaders said they would also continue working with ODOT to make road improvements as they anticipate continuing to see an increase in traffic.

“We’ve got a lot of money coming in through the state for infrastructure with this project since the mega project,” Wippel said. “So there’ll be roads improved and so forth. And we’re doing a complete Northern Pickaway County study right now with all the transportation because this project will impact the whole area, not just right next to the development area.”

Construction is expected to begin in 2025, with the first products slated for July 2026. The facility will produce tens of thousands of autonomous weapons systems, addressing urgent defense needs.