A building ready to move into, a nearby Ivy Tech site that can help provide training and other economic development activity in the area are some of the factors that led officials at Wabash National Corp. to expand its operations into Frankfort.
The Lafayette-based company plans on investing more than $2 million in a manufacturing facility at 901 W. Morrison St. that is expected to bring in 100-plus new jobs within three years..
The announcement was made Thursday evening at a special City Council meeting were a resolution related to the development was approved.
The company, which manufactures products relating to the trucking and transportation industry, plans to have an aggressive timetable to begin operations, and is expected to start hiring workers by October.
The new manufacturing jobs are expected to pay about $15.50 per hour.
The company currently has about 450 hourly and salaried employees, said James Scarcelli, vice president/general manager of Wabash National. The new jobs in Frankfort will be new employees, not transfers from other sites.
“We have outgrown the space in Lafayette,” he added. “We were looking for a facility that was basically ready to move in, and we needed something that was 100,000 square feet. We were thrilled to be able to work with the city to find something to meet our needs.”
In addition to handling current production the company plans to create new production lines at the Frankfort location.
“We will be transferring two production lines from Lafayette, then in 2015 we plan on launching a number of new products,” Scarcelli said.
Mayor Chris McBarnes said the company first approached the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce several months ago looking for a site.
“It continues the mantra that Frankfort is open to business,” he said after the meeting. “Our industrial base is growing and we’re putting people back to work. I think it’s very important to the community that we’re filling up a vacant building, and we have another world-class corporate partner when it comes to Wabash National.”
Both McBarnes and Shan Sheridan, executive director of the Clinton County Chamber of Commerce, said an important factor is bringing in Wabash National adds diversity to the city’s and county’s manufacturing base.
“It’s opportunity to bring another business with a different kind of product to our community. It gives us a little more diversity in our industrial park,” Sheridan said.
He also noted that manufacturing jobs are better paid, and that the company offers an “extremely strong” benefits package.
“It’s just going to be a great asset to our community,” he said.
Edie Reaves, director of manufacturing operations for Wabash Composites, said in addition to finding a building that met the company’s needs, other factors were important.
“Beyond that, what was wonderful about this site were the economic development activities that were going on in and around Clinton County and Frankfort,” she said. “Ivy Tech being here in Frankfort was a huge draw. Just for a pool of certain qualifications and skills, the ability to partner with ivy tech for potential training for our associates.
“That’s very exciting because you want to be in a community that values building skills, education and quality into the workforce,” Reaves said.
It is expected that the company will hire 20-30 new employees this year. The total is expected to reach about 80 in 2015, and between 100-120 by the end of 2016.
The city will offer a five-year tax abatement that will decrease from 100 percent to 50 percent over the life of the incentive.