The Governor’s Action Team and the Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County collaborated to pull together a package of financial aid and training for Ames Reese.

EDC President Lisa Riggs said the effort was needed to retain Ames Reese, which was being wooed by other communities.

“This is the type of company that could go anywhere. They’re attractive to a lot of places,” said Riggs.

On the financial side, the state Department of Community and Economic Development has offered the company a $150,000 state grant and $90,000 in state job-creation tax credits.

On the training side, HACC and the Lancaster County Workforce Development Board will help create an apprenticeship program to train new hires and support existing workers.

Henry Trabal, Ames Reese executive vice president, described the training program as “a key to our success.”

Trabal told LNP that he hopes Ames Reese can break ground in early 2018. Construction will take 14 or 15 months.

He declined to disclose the project cost for competitive reasons.

When the expansion is completed, Ames Reese will have “one of the most modern powdered metal plants in the United States.”

It will give the company the floor space and building height to install larger and higher-efficiency furnaces and presses with higher tonnage, allowing Ames Reese to manufacture larger parts, said Trabal.

Township Manager Ralph Hutchison said the company has yet to submit a land development plan, which must win township approval before construction can begin.

But in the township’s conversations with the company, Ames Reese has indicated “they want to move forward quickly,” said Hutchison.

Ames Reese was founded in 1996 when parent company Ames Group of Barcelona, Spain, purchased the former Reese Metal Products, which dated to 1951. Among its dozens of products are gears, bushings, rotors, spacers, pistons, valves and rods.