Pierceton Gets New Factory
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
PIERCETON - Construction should begin in mid-May on an $8.4 million die-casting plant in Pierceton's budding industrial park.
At a Friday morning press conference at Pierceton's town hall, officials from Kosciusko Development and SPX Corporation's Contech division announced plans for the facility to be operating by the end of this year.
Rob Hollacher, director of operations for the plant, said it will be a "state-of-the-art die casting facility" that will make aluminum castings for the automotive industry.
He called the facility a "tier two" supplier, which does not make parts directly for automobile assembly plants but for their suppliers.
Contech initially plans to employ approximately 48 people, Hollacher said, in a facility of about 45,000 square feet.
The plant will be located in Pierceton's industrial park, about one-half mile west of Ind. 13 on U.S. 30.
Hollacher said the company chose Pierceton over locations in Kentucky and Tennessee because of the location, the community size and the availability of skilled workers in the area.
"State and local governments have really worked well with us to make it feasible to come to Pierceton," he said. "We think we can get the quality people here."
Contech's division headquarters is in Portage, Mich., and the companies it supplies are in Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, Hollacher said.
Pierceton's location midway between suppliers and the industrial park's proximity to U.S. 30 were major attractions, he said.
The Indiana Department of Commerce also is giving Contech a development package that includes a tax credit of up to $555,950, said Philip J. Schlarman, Contech's financial manager. The state tax credit is spread over 10 years and will allow employee payroll taxes to become a tax credit against Indiana income taxes, he said.
Hollacher said most of the 48 jobs immediately available are skilled positions in a very high-tech industry.
"The die-casting cells require a high degree of skilled labor," he said.
The average base pay for die-cast product technicians will be approximately $16 per hour.
The company was welcomed to the community by Ron Hall, president of Pierceton's town council, who pledged to help make the move and the building project go as smoothly as possible.
Help from the community will include running water and sewer lines to the industrial park for the new building.
Future expansion is probable, Hollacher said, both in the size of the facility and in the number of employees. [[In-content Ad]]
PIERCETON - Construction should begin in mid-May on an $8.4 million die-casting plant in Pierceton's budding industrial park.
At a Friday morning press conference at Pierceton's town hall, officials from Kosciusko Development and SPX Corporation's Contech division announced plans for the facility to be operating by the end of this year.
Rob Hollacher, director of operations for the plant, said it will be a "state-of-the-art die casting facility" that will make aluminum castings for the automotive industry.
He called the facility a "tier two" supplier, which does not make parts directly for automobile assembly plants but for their suppliers.
Contech initially plans to employ approximately 48 people, Hollacher said, in a facility of about 45,000 square feet.
The plant will be located in Pierceton's industrial park, about one-half mile west of Ind. 13 on U.S. 30.
Hollacher said the company chose Pierceton over locations in Kentucky and Tennessee because of the location, the community size and the availability of skilled workers in the area.
"State and local governments have really worked well with us to make it feasible to come to Pierceton," he said. "We think we can get the quality people here."
Contech's division headquarters is in Portage, Mich., and the companies it supplies are in Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee, Hollacher said.
Pierceton's location midway between suppliers and the industrial park's proximity to U.S. 30 were major attractions, he said.
The Indiana Department of Commerce also is giving Contech a development package that includes a tax credit of up to $555,950, said Philip J. Schlarman, Contech's financial manager. The state tax credit is spread over 10 years and will allow employee payroll taxes to become a tax credit against Indiana income taxes, he said.
Hollacher said most of the 48 jobs immediately available are skilled positions in a very high-tech industry.
"The die-casting cells require a high degree of skilled labor," he said.
The average base pay for die-cast product technicians will be approximately $16 per hour.
The company was welcomed to the community by Ron Hall, president of Pierceton's town council, who pledged to help make the move and the building project go as smoothly as possible.
Help from the community will include running water and sewer lines to the industrial park for the new building.
Future expansion is probable, Hollacher said, both in the size of the facility and in the number of employees. [[In-content Ad]]