The Jefferson County Commission has approved a tax break of $230,000 a year for the next 10 years to help the U.S. Steel plant in Fairfield remain open and competitive.

Earlier this year, US Steel has sent out warn notices to about 1,700 workers that they could be laid off. The demand for steel is down and the company also needs to equipment.

"We've come to the point in the road with technology and frankly a lot of our equipment is at the end of stages of it's useful capacity," said Paul Vercher, Governmental Affairs with U.S. Steel.

On Thursday the Jefferson County Commission provided help by abating taxes that U.S. Steel has to pay back to the county. This will help the company to make a $277 million dollar investment in updating its equipment.

"It will help us be more globally competitive and our market is cyclical. It's up an down and anything we can do to increase productivity will help us compete in a very challenging market," Vercher said.

U.S. Steel will bring in an electric arc furnace to make steel products which is easier to operate and cleaner environmentally. The company will also invest in a new facility to make steel coupling products. The conversion should help the company to add 300 jobs to its workforce and possibly hundreds more in the future.

"The two products will preserve 300 jobs at the Fairfield Works. Without the products the product we produced would not make steel in Jefferson County," Vercher said.

Commissioners believe they had to act.

"It's the economic engine for Jefferson County. It's so important to keep their foot print in Jefferson County," said Jimmie Stephens, Jefferson County Commission President.