An electronic connector manufacturing plant in Crothersville plans to move more than 170 jobs from Jackson County to a new plant in Scottsburg as part of a consolidation.
Versatech, 400 S. Howard St., will move about 10 miles south to consolidate with Samtec.
Samtec, whose parent company is based in New Albany, recently announced plans to build a 70,000-square-foot facility in Scottsburg’s Certified Technology Park District. Groundbreaking is set for this fall, according to a news release. The site is adjacent to the city’s Mid-America Science Park.
An opening date is expected by midyear 2015, and as many as 300 jobs will be moved there. Those includes workers from Crothersville’s plant.
Julie Cook, human resources manager for Samtec in New Albany, confirmed the consolidation in April but at that time she did not have specifics on when and where it would occur.
Efforts to contact Cook or Versatech plant manager Craig Mull were unsuccessful.
Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., said he never likes to see companies leave the county, but when such a decision is made he hopes it has little or no impact.
“In this instance, the majority, if not all of the workers will have the opportunity to keep their jobs,” he said.
Plump said the commute from Crothersville to Scottsburg isn’t too far for those workers living in Jackson County.
Versatech, which makes cables and other electronic interconnection products, opened in 2000. At the beginning of the year, the company had 173 employees, making it the 10th-largest industrial employer in the county, according to Jackson County Industrial Development Corp.’s annual survey.
The building, which once housed a shoe factory, is leased from Grover Stacey and covers more than 106,000 square feet, according to property documents. Plump said there will be an attempt to market the building once Versatech leaves, which is expected to be within the year.
“We’ll look to see if we can find someone who needs it,” he said.
The effect on the tax base won’t be sizable because of the leasing situation.
This year, Versatech will pay around $2,500 in personal property taxes. Plump said this will not affect real property taxes since the company leases the facility.
He said since it was in operation on March 1, it also will pay those personal property taxes in 2015, so the departure will not affect the tax base until 2016.
Samtec is a privately held, $565 million global manufacturer of electronic interconnects. The company was founded in 1976 and employs about 4,000 people worldwide, according to a news release.
The new property in Scottsburg will be owned by Grover Stacey Co., and construction will be managed by Koetter Construction. Keith Baumann, global facilities manager for Samtec, said in a statement that the consolidation will allow greater efficiencies in distribution and logistics.