The Davis City Council is currently in talks to encourage the establishment of Mori Seiki, a high-tech manufacturing facility, in Davis.
Mori Seiki is a Japanese company that specializes in the high-tech manufacture and distribution of machine tools. The proposed facility would be located on 14.5 acres of land at Faraday Avenue, adjacent to the already present Digital Technology Laboratories, a division of Mori Seiki.
By bringing Mori Seiki to Davis, the city council said it wants to promote economic development, as well as create jobs for local residents and UC Davis graduates.
“A sustainable, innovative business like the Mori Seiki high-tech manufacturing facility would be a great fit for Davis,” said Stephen Souza, Davis city councilmember. “If they locate in Davis we could see up to 150 jobs created at the facility and 98 indirect jobs created. They would be injecting up to $12.8 million into the city of Davis’ economy.”
Souza’s fellow councilmember, Rochelle Swanson, is also optimistic about what Mori Seiki could bring to Davis.
“Not only could Mori Seiki itself create a number of jobs, but a company of that size can also support industries,” Swanson said. “Ideally a location in Davis would also translate to partnerships with the university resulting for benefits to recent graduates, as well as other members of the community.”
At the Nov. 9 city council meeting, the members discussed the proposal. The council approved a 50 percent relief of the construction tax as an incentive to locate in Davis.
The proposed facility would be the first in the United States. As of right now, Mori Seiki is deciding between locations in Illinois and California.
“Illinois has substantially more than California in the way of incentives available for new manufacturing facilities to be built in that state,” said Jim McDonald, a broker working with Davis on the project.
It is unknown when Mori Seiki will make their final decision.
ANNABEL SANDHU can be reached at city@theaggie.org.
