Columbus stands to gain 275 jobs from three projects that received approval for state tax incentives on Wednesday, including a recently announced project that would make Ohio State University the first science park devoted to space research.

The project was one of 14 to be approved by the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The projects are expected to create 1,663 jobs and retain 3,457 jobs statewide and result in $202.6 million in investments across the state.

Space technology company Voyager Space said in September that it had chosen a proposal from the state, JobsOhio and One Columbus to host the terrestrial analog of the George Washington Carver Science Park. The Voyager project is expected to create 50 jobs with an annual payroll of $5.9 million.

The tax credits are worth an estimated $1.25 million.

Voyager and its operating company, Nanoracks, had won a $160 million Space Act Agreement from NASA in December to design Starlab, the companies’ future commercial space station. The George Washington Carver Science Park, named for the American scientist and inventor, "forms the core of Starlab," according to the company.

The first-ever science park in space currently operates on the International Space Station.

The laboratory at Ohio State would be a replica of the Starlab space-station science park and would allow researchers to test missions.

Also in Columbus, Safecor Health received approval for its expansion plan to create 100 jobs with an annual payroll of $5.5 million.

The company will invest $4 million as part of the project. Hiring for administrative, production and sales positions will begin in 2023.

Safecor opened its current headquarters at 4060 Business Park Drive in 2011. It will expand into a nearby building at 4000 Business Park Drive as part of this project.

Safecor provides more than 1,000 hospitals and pharmacies nationwide with a safe and reliable system for repackaging nonsterile unit-dose products. The company currently has about 175 workers in Columbus.

The tax credits have an estimated value of $565,000.

Logistics company RXO Corporate Solutions plans to create 75 jobs with a payroll of $3.75 million as part of its expansion project in Columbus.

RXO, recently spun off from XPO Logistics, provided third-party freight brokerage services.

The tax credits have an estimated value of $219,000.

Outside central Ohio, the authority signed off on plans by Bellisio Foods, owned by Charoen Pokphand Foods of Thailand, to add 177 jobs in Jackson as part of an expansion project by the frozen-foods company.

The new jobs have an expected payroll of $7.4 million. The project will retain 1,663 jobs with an annual payroll of $45.3 million.

The company continues to expand its product offerings that include a new White Castle product.

The tax credits have an estimated value of $647,000.

In Tuscarawas County, Battle Motors received approval for a project in which the company will create 434 jobs and total annual payroll of $18 million.

Known locally as Crane Carrier, the company provides custom, severe-service chassis and purpose-built vehicles for the refuse and recycling, infrastructure maintenance, ground support, multistop distribution, agriculture, and oil and gas markets. The company is planning a new line of electric vehicles.

Los Angeles-based Battle bought Crane last year.

The tax credits are worth an estimated $2.5 million.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 3 central Ohio projects receive approval for tax incentives