Lockheed Martin plans to complete a new manufacturing facility by the end of 2018 that would employ nearly 50 more people at the company within four years of the project’s completion.

“We are approaching the groundbreaking phase of this project and anticipate construction to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2018,” said Jason Crager, site director. “This building is part of a phased project that we have estimated will bring approximately 50 new jobs to our site from our local workforce.”

The company took one step forward in the process Monday night by securing a tax abatement for 10 years on property taxes and on sales and use taxes for construction materials and equipment.

“(Lockheed Martin) needed to know they had this and we were going to vote to approve it, so we went ahead and suspended the rules and got it done,” said chairman Robin Sullivan.

“Any time you build a new facility on a site, the property value goes up,” said County Administrator Harry Sanders. “This abatement will allow them to get things going with the new operation before having to pay those higher property taxes.”

According to the abatement application, the project is estimated to create 46 jobs at an approximate average salary of $45,000 per employee.

Crager said the investment in the community goes beyond those jobs and salaries.

“The capital investment for projects like this typically generate sales for many local vendors and service providers related to the construction of the building,” Crager said. “In addition to the capital investment, new jobs historically can bring long-term income growth to an area. In a project like this, both the direct Lockheed Martin jobs and the capital investment for construction tend to result in many indirect jobs across all sectors of the local economy.”­

The total capital investment of the project is estimated at $10.3 million on the abatement application.­