A Kendallville manufacturer of heavy truck suspension parts and a Topeka snack maker will invest a total of more than $15 million to expand their operations. Together, they plan on hiring more than 60 workers over the next few years.
They were among four companies announcing expansion plans Tuesday evening, according to a news release from the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Hendrickson USA LLC in Kendallville will spend $11.3 million to build and equip a 57,000-square-foot addition to its 122,000-square-foot facility at 101 S. Progress Drive. The IEDC said Hendrickson also plans on installing new equipment at its second plant in Kendallville’s East Industrial Park to increase production of rubber bushings.
The company makes suspension parts and systems for heavy trucks and buses. It presently has 180 workers at its two Kendallville plants, and expects to add up to 41 workers by 2019, the IEDC said.
“Hendrickson USA has been a part of Indiana for many years,” Scott Aselage, plant manager at Hendrickson, said in the IEDC news release. “We enjoy doing business in Kendallville and Indiana. We have great relationships here and really appreciate the continued support we’re receiving.”
Hendrickson is a subsidiary of Itasca, Illinois-based Boler Corp., and is a supplier for, among others, Navistar, Kenworth, Peterbilt, Volvo, Mack, Freightliner and Blue Bird heavy trucks and buses.
Topeka-based Snax In Pax Inc. will spend $3.8 million to build and equip a 27,000-square-foot addition that will nearly double the size of its existing facility at 204 Hawpatch Drive, the IEDC said. The company, which makes gourmet caramel corn and fudge sold at grocery store across the country, was founded 22 years ago and presently employs 15 workers.
With the addition, the company expects to create up to 21 additional jobs by 2017. The addition is expected to open in June.
“Indiana is my home, born and raised, so being a Hoosier and running a company in Indiana means I am helping to keep Indiana families working in Indiana jobs,” Vice President of Operations Will Huggins said in the IEDC release.
He said: “Our growth is due in part by the demand for our products in a growing snack food sector, but also from the hard work and quality our employees put into their work ethic producing our line of high-end snack food products. Indiana is a great state to live and raise families, and it is also a great state to be a business owner.”
The IEDC offered up to $325,000 in conditional tax credits to Hendrickson, and Snax in Pax was offered up to $100,000 in conditional tax credits, based on the companies’ job creation plans. The Kendallville City Council and LaGrange County officials are expected to consider tax abatements for the expansion projects.
The other companies announcing expansion plans are Advanced Cabinet Systems in Marion, which will spend $1.5 million for a new 100,000-square-foot facility; and Transformations by Wieland, which will invest $2.4 million to renovate a 76,000-square-foot facility in Fort Wayne. According to the IEDC, those two companies, respectively, will create up to 30 jobs and up to 34 jobs over the next few years.