SKF plant in NorthPark SKF, a Swedish maker of industrial lubrication systems, opened on Tuesday its factory at the NorthPark business park near Lambert St. Louis-International Airport. The 310,000-square-foot factory includes engineering, manufacturing and testing operations, plus sales, marketing and administrative offices as well as a distribution center. “SKF’s investment in Missouri is a tremendous vote of confidence in this region’s workforce and business climate,” Gov. Jay Nixon said in a statement. “This state-of-the-art facility strengthens our position as a hub for advanced manufacturing jobs.” SKF is moving to the NorthPark factory in phases from its old factory just off Goodfellow Boulevard in St. Louis. Some functions already have moved. Relocation of manufacturing and product assembly is expected to be completed in August, the company said. Officials have said SKF’s approximately $55 million NorthPark project will preserve the 388 jobs at the St. Louis plant and generate 73 additional jobs. Among the public incentives for the project is one from Missouri Works program, which provides tax breaks based on jobs created, officials said. SKF bought the St. Louis factory — part of which dates to 1916 — as part of its purchase in 2010 of Lincoln Industrial Group from Harbour Group, a Clayton-based private equity firm. SKF, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, paid $1 billion for Lincoln, a maker of lubrication pumps.