The state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council (EACC) this week approved nine projects for participation in the Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP), which will create more than 320 new jobs, retain 1,600 existing jobs, and leverage $106 million in private investment across Massachusetts.

"The Patrick-Murray Administration remains committed to growing our economy and creating jobs through supporting our small businesses and helping them grow and expand here in the commonwealth," Housing and Economic Development Secretary Greg Bialecki said in a statement. "These EDIP investments are consistent with that goal and part of an overall economic development strategy designed to help Massachusetts continue to recover, and position our businesses and cities and towns for long-term growth and prosperity."

The EDIP is the commonwealth’s investment tax credit program for businesses. Since 2009, the EACC has assisted 51 manufacturers through the EDIP program and supported 35 projects in Gateway Cities.

The latest investment tax credits approved by the EACC are:

•·         $177,264 for a manufacturing plant consolidation in Holyoke by Sealed Air Corp.;

•·         $40,000 for expansion of Poplar Hill Machine’s high-tech metal and plastic machining facility in Conway;

•·         $546,000 for Orange-based Rodney Hunt Co.’s consolidation of manufacturing facilities;

•·         $885,000 for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s consolidation of handheld chemical analytic scanner manufacturing into a new Tewksbury facility;

•·         $1.47 million for Cheer Pack North America, a food packaging manufacturer, to renovate and lease a West Bridgewater manufacturing plant;

•·         $252,740 for Siemens Industry’s consolidation of two non-manufacturing facilities in Worcester into a new Gateway Park building.

The EACC also approved three projects for tax increment financing only: Cumar, a natural stone manufacturer in Everett; Factory Mutual Insurance Co., Norwood; and F.W. Webb Co., Springfield.