Nora Naughton
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Published: June 9, 2014 11:37 am ET
Updated: June 9, 2014 11:45 am ET
Longtime auto supplier Dana Holding Corp. plans to expand its headquarters in Maumee, Ohio, and consolidate workers from other offices in the new space.
The expansion of the 191,000-square-foot corporate office and technology center is estimated to cost $7 million to $10 million, and the building will grow by more than 40,000 square feet.
Dana, one of the suppliers to Ford’s Model T with roots dating back 110 years, survived a nearly two-year bankruptcy reorganization in 2006-08 along with the U.S. economic crisis that followed. It moved out of its longtime headquarters in Toledo to the office in Maumee after the bankruptcy.
“We are very excited about our future growth,” said Dana spokesman Jeff Cole.
Dana makes sealing and thermal management systems, but is best known for its axels and powertrain parts.
Dana had leased the headquarters building and surrounding property from the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority since the facility was built in 2003, but Dana Cos. -- a Dana subsidiary -- purchased the building and property for $17.6 million in mid-April.
Work on the expansion is expected to begin in September, and if construction starts on time, the work should be done in the summer of 2015.
When the expansion is complete, Dana will close its office 2 miles north of the headquarters building. A majority of the nearly 175 employees from that facility will move to the expanded headquarters building, Cole said.
Others from the company’s suburban Detroit office will also be moved to the expanded building in Ohio.
About 450 people plus contractors work in the current headquarters and that number should rise by about 200 once the expansion is complete, Cole said.
Separately, the UAW said today its members ratified a three-year agreement with Dana that provides wage increases for all workers. The agreement covers 2,500 UAW members in 11 Dana plants in the United States.
The agreement also improves pensions and narrows the gap between wage tiers, the union said.
“We have continued to close the wage gap between those workers who were hired after the Dana bankruptcy, while recognizing and rewarding those dedicated workers who successfully carried Dana through bankruptcy,” Cindy Estrada, a UAW vice president, said in the statement.
The Toledo Blade newspaper reported the move earlier Wednesday. | 
