Hobart Brothers, a manufacturer of welding consumables, will expand its facility in Troy, Ohio, with a $2.9 million investment. At least 40 new jobs are planned at full operation, which is expected in the spring of 2009. The company will construct a new 65,000-square-foot building, with work beginning in the coming weeks. "The pros of staying in Troy outweighed the cons," says Grant Harvey, the company's vice president and general manager, in the Dayton Business Journal. "We have a good work force here." Harvey attributes the company's growth to strong growth in heavy manufacturing and offshore shipbuilding. The company is owned by Illinois-based Illinois Tool Works Inc. No details about incentives were released.