Ohio tax breaks were approved this week for a record 30 businesses, including steel and bearing manufacturing Timken Co. in Canton and a company in Tallmadge that calls itself a world leader in crossbows.One of the largest state tax credits — $19.5 million — would go to Timken over a 15-year period.Timken would use the tax break to help pay for its planned $225 million expansion of its Faircrest Steel plant in Perry Township, outside Canton.In Tallmadge, crossbow maker Horton Archery LLC would receive a seven-year credit, valued at $88,774, to create 20 new jobs and retain an existing 37.Horton Chief Operating Officer Bill Rohm said the company has moved manufacturing from a plant in Changzhou, China, to its facility in an industrial park on Crystal Parkway in Tallmadge.“We wanted to get made-in-the-USA back on our crossbows,” Rohm said, explaining customers value brands made in this country.Horton, which also makes accessories for crossbow hunters, said the new jobs would create an additional $800,000 in annual payroll.The Ohio Tax Credit Authority at its meeting Monday approved the tax breaks for 30 companies planning projects that it said over the next several years will create 3,501 jobs and retain 10,539 existing jobs.Ohio Department of Development spokeswoman Katie Sabatino said Tuesday that the total value of the tax breaks — credits against the state’s Commercial Activity Tax — is nearly $60.2 million. The companies plan to add $582 million in payroll and invest $415 million, she said.The 30 tax credits approved are a record for a single meeting.Sabatino noted the state’s Ohio Tax Credit Authority combines its December and January meetings, typically resulting in a large number of awards around the end of the year.Timken’s planned expansion of its Faircrest mill is expected to help retain the 3,533 hourly and salaried jobs in its steel operations in Stark County. Timken must operate the Faircrest mill for at least 18 years to keep the tax credit.Timken spokeswoman Lorrie Crum said the approved tax credit “is another step in the process” before the company moves forward with the expansion.Earlier this year, Timken entered early contract negotiations with the United Steelworkers. The company is seeking a labor agreement to “ensure work force stability” through startup of the expansion.The current agreement expires Sept. 30, 2013, while the expansion project is scheduled to be completed in 2014.Crum said, “Demand [for the company’s steel] is at an all time high ... it is really about stability to serve our customers.”Among the other tax breaks offered Monday is a $95,028 credit for Wayne County’s Venture Products Inc., the maker of Ventrac four-wheel drive compact tractors.Venture plans an expansion and would create 33 jobs and retain 81 positions, the state said.Demand for the company’s versatile tractors is up, operations director Randy Kitzmiller said. The company’s tractors can be used to mow, blow snow, dig trenches and aerate soil.The growing company wants to move to Orrville Industrial Park, where it would have enough room to eventually put its operations under one roof. Production is now spread between two facilities in the Orrville area.To keep the credit — which would be doled out over six years — Venture must maintain operations in Orrville for at least nine years.Among Northeast Ohio projects approved Monday for large tax breaks is Ford’s plan to convert production at its Avon Lake assembly plant from vans to commercial trucks.Ford said Tuesday it would invest $128 million in the project.Also Monday, a separate state board approved a low-interest state loan of $1.5 million for the General Aluminum Manufacturing facility in Portage.Veyance Technologies Inc., the former Goodyear Engineered Products division headquartered in Fairlawn, received a $2 million low-interest state loan. Veyance’s request for a tax credit also was approved Monday, with the Tax Credit Authority offering a $56,883 tax break for the company’s expansion in St. Marys, Ohio. The project is expected to create 15 jobs and retain 398 positions.Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.