PRINCETON—A Canadian automotive supplier is considering a vacant industrial building in Gibson County among three contending sites for new operations.

Gibson County Council members agreed Tuesday to consider offering personal property tax incentives over the next five years if Windsor Machine Group locates here.

The company, based in Ontario, Canada, near Detroit, would initially hire 25 people and eventually could employ 130 people at $15 hourly wages, plus benefits, according to Gibson County Economic Development Corp. board chairman Jim Stephens.

Stephens asked the county council to consider the personal property tax phase-ins over a five-year period for new equipment, as an incentive for the $600,000 investment to locate here.

In 2010, the company would pay no taxes on equipment, and annual payments would increase yearly from zero to $1,936 the second year, $2,904 the third year, $3,319 the fourth year and  $4,149 in 2014 when the abatement expires. In its first five years of business, the company would pay $12,308 in personal property taxes for machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures and computer hardware.

The company is also considering sites  in Tennessee and Mexico, he told the council.

Stephens said the company is considering leasing the former Product Action building owned by developer Mike Crabtree. The building has been vacant for about a year. He said Crabtree would pay the property taxes with no incentives.

“Roughly three months ago Windsor started looking for a site and our region made the short list,” he explained. “As they searched our region it was obvious a piece of property, ready to go with minor changes, made a lasting impression. At that time, the maximum number of jobs to fill their facility was 30. Since that time, other opportunities for this facility have made themselves available,” he said, and 130 positions are now projected within two years.

“These are 130 people who may be looking for a job today and we can give it to them, today.”

Stephens said if the company chooses Gibson County, Windsor could begin moving equipment to the  Gach Road property next door to Total Interior Systems America in December and start production in January after a little production.

The company makes automotive head restraints and headrests for Ford,  Cadillac and Toyota, including the 2008 Sequoia sport utility vehicle made in Gibson County.

Efforts to obtain comment from Windsor Machine Group’s corporate headquarters Tuesday about the company’s plans and what product it might make in Gibson County were not immediately successful.

Gibson County Council President Tony Wolfe got unanimous authorization for a “declaratory resolution” to offer the abatement. Stephens asked for a Nov. 24 public hearing to finalize the abatement, but Wolfe said the council must also determine whether the property is part of the county’s  Tax Increment Financing district. If so, Wolfe said the abatement offer may also be subject to consent of the Gibson County Redevelopment Commission.

The council’s final “confirmatory resolution” would follow. The county’s tax incentive is relatively small, Wolfe said, by comparison to previous abatement offers to other companies.