Precision Castparts Corp. plans to boost its Redmond workforce by 25 employees as part of a $2 million equipment expansion at its Redmond operation, PCC Schlosser, according to planning documents filed with Deschutes County.

The company recently submitted an enterprise zone application, seeking five years of tax breaks as PCC installs new machinery at its 52,000-square-foot plant on Northeast Hemlock Avenue.

The agreement would save PCC more than $160,000 in property taxes over five years, as the company adds to its roughly 246-employee Redmond operation. PCC Schlosser manufactures titanium castings for jet aircraft engines and other industrial products.

Companies operating under enterprise zones get waivers on certain property taxes over a three-, five- or seven-year period, extending up to 15 years in some cases.

Deschutes County commissioners have to approve the enterprise zone application before it can take effect. Commissioners are scheduled to discuss the proposal Wednesday.

A PCC spokesman did not return telephone messages and emails seeking comment Thursday.

The company’s growth in Redmond comes as PCC Schlosser has worked to revamp its production methods, replacing its older wax mold machines with a higher-technology, 3-D mold process, according to Jon Stark, Economic Development for Central Oregon’s Redmond manager.

“It makes (production) quite a bit more efficient for them,” Stark said, adding that PCC’s $2 million expansion “is predominantly about equipment changes.”

If granted, the deal would be PCC Schlosser’s fifth enterprise zone agreement provided by the county since 1990, when it operated as Schlosser Casting Company.

To meet the county’s enterprise zone conditions, PCC Schlosser has to invest at least $50,000 by the end of the year and bring the 25 workers on by April 1, 2015. The workers also have to make at least 150 percent of Deschutes County’s average annual wage, which comes out to $55,173, for the agreement to stay in place.

Stark said the average annual wage for the new employees would be a bit more than $60,000, with medical benefits.

“These are above family-wage jobs,” he said. “This is an example of a company that continues to leverage local resources to expand and create jobs.”

This would be the second enterprise zone agreement a Redmond company has tapped into in two months.

In December, BasX Solutions, a new company planning to make portable surgical suites, received $257,000 in enterprise zone tax breaks over five years, pledging to employ 150 people.

County officials said BasX and PCC Schlosser’s growth plans could help Redmond recover some of the wages lost since 2008. Deschutes County had a monthly average of 4,178 manufacturing jobs last year, according to state data, up from 3,890 in 2012, but down from 5,650 in 2007.

“Redmond has had a lot of growth lately in advanced manufacturing jobs,” Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger said. “This is a win both for the city and the county.”

Precision Castparts purchased Redmond-based Schlosser Casting Co. in December 1997. Founded in Portland in 1953, PCC grew rapidly as the country’s aviation business boomed. The company went public in 1967.

Today, PCC employs more than 28,000 people worldwide, with facilities spread across the United States and France, according to its website.

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, eglucklich@bendbulletin.com