A multimillion dollar manufacturing facility that would create 163 jobs over five years could come to Marion.

Vela Gear Systems is a start-up company that is working to secure financing for an $87 million facility at Ind. 18 and Interstate 69. They received a green light from the Marion City Council on Tuesday, with the unanimous approval of modifying the Taxable Increment Financing district in the area.

Darren Reese, director of development for the city, said the move Tuesday will show investors that Marion is dedicated to the project, which could mean the investors will also move the project forward.

“What we’re doing now is planting the flag that says, ‘Vela Gear goes here,’” Reese said.

Noel Davis, chief executive officer for Vela Gear Systems, said the 250,000-square foot facility would manufacture large gear sets for wind turbines and more.

The proposed facility would be built on a 35-acre site just west of Ivy Tech Community College, and Davis said the company would partner with the college to educate potential workers on making gears.

Pay would be at around $24 an hour, and significant hiring will begin one year after financing is finalized. He said once financing is approved, construction will take one year and hiring would begin after that. There would be about 50 skilled machinists for each of the three shifts at the facility, he said, as well as office employees.

Mayor Wayne Seybold said city administration has traveled to Washington and Chicago to assist Davis in financing the project.

“If we get more people like this, we’re going to come out of the economic problem that we’re in very quickly,” Seybold said. 

The council gave a unanimous approval to the resolution that makes the area a TIF district, though details on how the TIF district will be financed still have to be worked out, Reese said. The resolution passed Tuesday means the TIF area exists, and future financing with the city will be determined later.

Council President Madonna French said she and other members of the council are excited about the potential Vela could bring to the city. She said manufacturing jobs are what the city needs, and there is already a workforce in Marion with the skills for the jobs.

“If we don’t have the skills, we’ll attract the skills,” French said.

Davis, a Carmel resident, said he spoke to several communities across Indiana about locating his business. Marion stood out, he said, because the city administration assured Vela that it would be a partner with the business throughout the project through the TIF district.

Davis, 50, once served in the U.S. Navy as a weapons officer on a submarine. He went on to work in manufacturing at companies like Federal-Mogul and Johnson Controls. He has experience with gear manufacturing through working in management at Fairfield Manufacturing and then Brad Foote Gearworks.

He said the industry calls for larger gears to be made with larger machinery. He likens the process to making pizza — if customers are ordering larger-sized pizzas, larger ovens have to be made, so he’s proposing opening a facility with machinery big enough to make the gears that are in demand.

He said in 2009, there were 6,000 wind turbines installed across the country. The majority of those came from Europe, as few American companies make gears large enough.

He said now there is a drop in demand for wind turbines, as the economy is just now hitting the industry. While in 2009 there were 6,000 turbines installed in America, which is up from 5,000 in 2008, Davis expects to see the 2010 figures to drop 30 to 40 percent because of the economy.

Still, he’s hopeful to secure the financing for the gear manufacturing facility, as the gears can be used for other large pieces of machinery.

Davis said even if there is not a demand for wind gears, the gears could be used for other items, such as off-shore drilling, mining equipment or submarines.

“Whatever is hot at the time, we’re going to make,” Davis said.

In addition to Indiana being his home, Davis said he wants to locate in the state because it is central to all potential wind-related customers that would purchase the gears.

Reese said the city developing the TIF district helps the project get rolling.

“We’re just creating the environment for it to exist at a future date,” he said. “We are at (Davis’) disposal to get this thing done.”
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