North America’s largest cabinet maker MasterBrand Inc. will move its corporate headquarters and dozens of jobs from Jasper, Indiana to 3300 Enterprise Parkway in suburban Beachwood (Google). CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE THEM.
$2.8 billion biz could add dozens of jobs here
A newly independent corporation with 13,600 employees company-wide in more than 20 manufacturing facilities and offices is relocating its headquarters to Greater Cleveland — specifically, Beachwood. While a 26-year-old, three-story office building at 3300 Enterprise Parkway will be its new corporate headquarters, MasterBrand’s operations center will remain in Jasper, Indiana along with a production facility and training center.
Company officials, some of whom already reside in Greater Cleveland, said they intend to invest in both regions and everywhere else they have facilities. Although the business has been around since 1926, the publicly traded MasterBrand became an independent company last year when its parent Fortune Brands of suburban Chicago spun it off and sent it looking for a a new home. Fortune is also the parent of Moen Inc., headquartered in North Olmsted.
In the 12 months ending Sept. 24, MasterBrand had revenue of $2.83 billion, down 12.44 percent year-over-year, according to stockanalysis.com. It has closed or curtailed production operations at several locations nationwide in the past year. Although no headquarters employment numbers were noted in a press statement released today, their new headquarters building measures 45,720 square feet, Cuyahoga County records show. Although not all of that will be occupied by MasterBrand, the building could accommodate at least 150 employees.
That jibes with the company’s projected Beachwood payroll of $7.25 million, according to a Nov. 6 inter-office memo from the city’s Economic Development Director Catherine Bieterman to Mayor Justin Berns and City Council. The city granted a Job Creation Tax Credit (JCTC) Incentive to lure the headquarters. The memo says MasterBrand will commit to an 11-year lease within the city of Beachwood. The office building is owned by SITE Centers, a real estate investment trust company formerly called Developers Diversified Realty Inc. and founded by Bert Wolstein. SITE Centers has its headquarters there.
To be eligible for the city’s tax credit, the company would have to create at least 30 full-time jobs over three years. Masterbrand will be reimbursed with annual incentive payments equal to no more than 40 percent of the total annual payroll taxes paid to the city of Beachwood during the four-year duration of the agreement, Bieterman’s memo notes. The company will also invest $2 million to update its new corporate offices.
“Beachwood was selected due to several factors, including its location in relation to our operations, the thriving business community, and access to talent,” said MasterBrand President and CEO Dave Banyard in a written statement. “We look forward to opening our headquarters here soon and welcoming our customers and partners from across North America.”
Beachwood city officials welcomed MasterBrand’s headquarters not only because the company will bring new jobs but they said they also liked their residential cabinet products, calling them “excellent” and “stylish” (MasterBrand).
MasterBrand officials said they considered several options for locating its headquarters. In their press release, they noted that Beachwood and Northeast Ohio won out because its central location and “strong logistics with a solid core transportation infrastructure.” But those attributes are associated with locating manufacturing plants, not a corporate headquarters. MasterBrand has no manufacturing facilities in Ohio. Additionally, MasterBrand cited the lower cost of doing business and strong investments in innovation made it “a good choice for manufacturers and corporate headquarters alike.”
A team comprised of JobsOhio, Team NEO, the City of Beachwood, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and Cuyahoga County collaborated with MasterBrand to understand its business needs and to provide a variety of resources and insights to help the Company make the decision to land in the Northeast Ohio Region, including Beachwood’s Job Creation Tax Credit and a JobsOhio grant. The amount of the JobsOhio grant was not publicly available.
“I have a long history with and knowledge of the excellence of MasterBrand’s residential cabinets,” said Mayor Berns. “These products are top-quality within the industry. The city of Beachwood strongly values and supports MasterBrand’s future growth plans as the company establishes its new headquarters here in our community.”
“We welcome MasterBrand to Cuyahoga County and look forward to the added economic vibrancy that the company will bring to our county,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. “MasterBrand’s decision to bring its corporate headquarters to Northeast Ohio and plans to grow here demonstrates the value we offer as a business destination.”
“The Northeast Ohio Region offers companies like MasterBrand access to a robust workforce of nearly 187,000 workers experienced in headquarters and professional services operations. We are confident that MasterBrand will find the talent and other resources needed to thrive here,” added Team NEO Chief Executive Officer Bill Koehler. “Along with our local partners and JobsOhio we welcome MasterBrand and their reputation of superior craftsmanship and excellent products to the Northeast Ohio Region.”
In her memo, Bieterman said “MasterBrand is the number-one residential cabinet manufacturer in North America because of their leading dealer network, stylish products and employee dedication to operational excellence. They are a public company with the largest distribution network and with unmatched product and brand portfolios. They have
operations across the United States. Their cabinet brands include Aristokraft, Diamond, Homecrest, Schrock, Thomasville, Décor, Fieldstone, Omega, and several others.”
END
