Redevelopment Approves MOU For Nextremity’s Relocation
May 19, 2020 at 3:35 a.m.
Redevelopment Approves MOU For Nextremity’s Relocation
By David [email protected]
The Warsaw Redevelopment Commission on Monday approved a resolution for an economic development memorandum of understanding between the Redevelopment Commission, city of Warsaw and Nextremity Solutions for incentives for Nextremity to occupy the shell building out at the Tech Park.
The Warsaw Common Council approved the MOU at its meeting Monday night.
At the Redevelopment Commission meeting, City Planner Jeremy Skinner said, “In theory, the Redevelopment Commission would approve their resolution and the memorandum as it’s stated, and tonight the council will approve their resolution and the memorandum.”
The underlying purpose of the resolution and MOU is to give incentives to Nextremity to occupy the shell building and make improvements to the shell building, Skinner said.
He said Nextremity will be occupying the shell building at 1195 Polk Drive and be moving 54 full-time employees into that facility. Nextremity will make roughly $2 million in equipment and machinery upgrades and add 42 employees with annual wages ranging from $28.22 to $33.70 an hour, all over a five-year period.
Skinner said the Redevelopment Commission would be making an equipment purchase in the amount of $250,000.
“At such time they would buy this piece of equipment, the Redevelopment Commission would give $250,000 toward that equipment purchase as part of this agreement. The city council, later tonight, would look at their portion, which is the economic development loan portion of this agreement,” Skinner explained.
Currently, the shell building that Nextremity will be occupying is “just roughed in,” Skinner said. West Hill developers will be finishing the outside of the shell building and make interior improvements. Skinner said he believed the total investment into the building will be about $8 million, but he didn’t know what the assessed valuation will be.
Redevelopment Commission member and City Councilman Mike Klondaris asked when the building will be move-in ready.
Skinner said Nextremity believes that later this year they may be able to occupy the manufacturing portion of the building, with the office moving in around April.
He said the agreement has some “wiggle room” built into it.
Nextremity is getting some state incentives, as well as the local incentives for this project. The Redevelopment’s portion all would come out of the Northern TIF Fund.
Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. CEO Alan Tio said he’s worked with a team from Nextremity for about two years to help them work through their growth plans and what they’re considering.
“Working now within the last 15 years or so with companies up and down the U.S. 30 corridor, the ‘ortho alley,’ it’s just so important we see companies like Nextremity – locally owned, locally grown firms – that want to grow here. We certainly have a great legacy to build on with the orthopedic sector, but we want to make sure the future of that sector is happening here and it’s going to take companies like Nextremity and others to tell the story,” Tio said.
In terms of incentives for the project, Tio said they are working with the state of Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. IEDC has reimbursable training grant dollars, which are reimbursed 50 cents on the dollar, as well as a tax credit based on job and payroll creation.
Tio said, “High level, I can say that the state of Indiana typically is awarding somewhere in the ballpark of $15,000 to $20,000 per job created, so the actual price tag of the state’s involvement on projects like this one is just typically greater than the local involvement.”
He said they’d keep the lines of communication open with the IEDC and look at other “tools in the toolbox” the state may have for the project. He commended the city for working creatively with the company to find ways to support the company and provide “that little bit of rocket fuel to support their plans.”
Redevelopment Commission President Tim Meyer said, “This fits in very well with the concept of the Tech Park. It is a technology-based company, obviously, in the orthopedic industry.”
Skinner said the MOU basically says if Nextremity “does XYZ, the commission will do XYZ.” It is similar to what the city did with Winona PVD in the past.
Redevelopment Vice President Rick Snodgrass said he’s in full agreement with this. “I think it’s great they’re consolidating everything into one building. They’re staying in Warsaw. I think it’s a great thing for the Technology Park,” he said.
Dan Stichter, chief financial officer at Nextremity Solutions, said, “We at Nextremity are very excited about the opportunity of the shell building at the Tech Park. When we determined that a new long-term home was going to be in our future plans, we had not determined that it would be this quickly, but when the opportunity presented itself and members such as Mayor (Joe) Thallemer and Alan here brought this opportunity to our attention, it was too good of an opportunity and too great of an investment in our community to pass up.”
He said Nextremity plans to consolidate both its manufacturing and product development into the Tech Park space.
“So we’re really, really excited and appreciate the effort of the Redevelopment Commission and the city potentially this evening as well to bring these incentives to the table,” Stichter said.
Nextremity plans to double in size over the next five years with “more exciting” plans to come, he said.
Along with additional employees, Stichter said they believe sales will grow two to three times in the next five to eight years. “It’s very exciting for us to be able bring manufacturing into the community that Nextremity’s product development entity had outsourced previously into other international and national locations,” he said. Now that manufacturing will be brought to Warsaw.
Nextremity CEO and President Rod Mayer expressed his gratitude to the Redevelopment Commission.
“This is a proud moment for me individually. I started in orthopedics at age 17 back in 1977. It’s been a fantastic industry for myself and my family,” Mayer said. “We moved everything from New Jersey in 2015 and I had this idea that we could bring the entire entity here to the orthopedic capital of the world.”
On behalf of all of the Nextremity shareholders and employees and their families, Mayer said, “We just want to express our gratitude. So thank you.”
“We wish you the best,” Meyer told Mayer.
Mayer thanked Thallemer for his efforts in bringing it together and the progress that’s been made.
Snodgrass made a motion to approve the resolution as presented, with Klondaris providing the second. It was approved 4-0, with member George Clemens abstaining because he is a shareholder in Nextremity.
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The Warsaw Redevelopment Commission on Monday approved a resolution for an economic development memorandum of understanding between the Redevelopment Commission, city of Warsaw and Nextremity Solutions for incentives for Nextremity to occupy the shell building out at the Tech Park.
The Warsaw Common Council approved the MOU at its meeting Monday night.
At the Redevelopment Commission meeting, City Planner Jeremy Skinner said, “In theory, the Redevelopment Commission would approve their resolution and the memorandum as it’s stated, and tonight the council will approve their resolution and the memorandum.”
The underlying purpose of the resolution and MOU is to give incentives to Nextremity to occupy the shell building and make improvements to the shell building, Skinner said.
He said Nextremity will be occupying the shell building at 1195 Polk Drive and be moving 54 full-time employees into that facility. Nextremity will make roughly $2 million in equipment and machinery upgrades and add 42 employees with annual wages ranging from $28.22 to $33.70 an hour, all over a five-year period.
Skinner said the Redevelopment Commission would be making an equipment purchase in the amount of $250,000.
“At such time they would buy this piece of equipment, the Redevelopment Commission would give $250,000 toward that equipment purchase as part of this agreement. The city council, later tonight, would look at their portion, which is the economic development loan portion of this agreement,” Skinner explained.
Currently, the shell building that Nextremity will be occupying is “just roughed in,” Skinner said. West Hill developers will be finishing the outside of the shell building and make interior improvements. Skinner said he believed the total investment into the building will be about $8 million, but he didn’t know what the assessed valuation will be.
Redevelopment Commission member and City Councilman Mike Klondaris asked when the building will be move-in ready.
Skinner said Nextremity believes that later this year they may be able to occupy the manufacturing portion of the building, with the office moving in around April.
He said the agreement has some “wiggle room” built into it.
Nextremity is getting some state incentives, as well as the local incentives for this project. The Redevelopment’s portion all would come out of the Northern TIF Fund.
Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. CEO Alan Tio said he’s worked with a team from Nextremity for about two years to help them work through their growth plans and what they’re considering.
“Working now within the last 15 years or so with companies up and down the U.S. 30 corridor, the ‘ortho alley,’ it’s just so important we see companies like Nextremity – locally owned, locally grown firms – that want to grow here. We certainly have a great legacy to build on with the orthopedic sector, but we want to make sure the future of that sector is happening here and it’s going to take companies like Nextremity and others to tell the story,” Tio said.
In terms of incentives for the project, Tio said they are working with the state of Indiana and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. IEDC has reimbursable training grant dollars, which are reimbursed 50 cents on the dollar, as well as a tax credit based on job and payroll creation.
Tio said, “High level, I can say that the state of Indiana typically is awarding somewhere in the ballpark of $15,000 to $20,000 per job created, so the actual price tag of the state’s involvement on projects like this one is just typically greater than the local involvement.”
He said they’d keep the lines of communication open with the IEDC and look at other “tools in the toolbox” the state may have for the project. He commended the city for working creatively with the company to find ways to support the company and provide “that little bit of rocket fuel to support their plans.”
Redevelopment Commission President Tim Meyer said, “This fits in very well with the concept of the Tech Park. It is a technology-based company, obviously, in the orthopedic industry.”
Skinner said the MOU basically says if Nextremity “does XYZ, the commission will do XYZ.” It is similar to what the city did with Winona PVD in the past.
Redevelopment Vice President Rick Snodgrass said he’s in full agreement with this. “I think it’s great they’re consolidating everything into one building. They’re staying in Warsaw. I think it’s a great thing for the Technology Park,” he said.
Dan Stichter, chief financial officer at Nextremity Solutions, said, “We at Nextremity are very excited about the opportunity of the shell building at the Tech Park. When we determined that a new long-term home was going to be in our future plans, we had not determined that it would be this quickly, but when the opportunity presented itself and members such as Mayor (Joe) Thallemer and Alan here brought this opportunity to our attention, it was too good of an opportunity and too great of an investment in our community to pass up.”
He said Nextremity plans to consolidate both its manufacturing and product development into the Tech Park space.
“So we’re really, really excited and appreciate the effort of the Redevelopment Commission and the city potentially this evening as well to bring these incentives to the table,” Stichter said.
Nextremity plans to double in size over the next five years with “more exciting” plans to come, he said.
Along with additional employees, Stichter said they believe sales will grow two to three times in the next five to eight years. “It’s very exciting for us to be able bring manufacturing into the community that Nextremity’s product development entity had outsourced previously into other international and national locations,” he said. Now that manufacturing will be brought to Warsaw.
Nextremity CEO and President Rod Mayer expressed his gratitude to the Redevelopment Commission.
“This is a proud moment for me individually. I started in orthopedics at age 17 back in 1977. It’s been a fantastic industry for myself and my family,” Mayer said. “We moved everything from New Jersey in 2015 and I had this idea that we could bring the entire entity here to the orthopedic capital of the world.”
On behalf of all of the Nextremity shareholders and employees and their families, Mayer said, “We just want to express our gratitude. So thank you.”
“We wish you the best,” Meyer told Mayer.
Mayer thanked Thallemer for his efforts in bringing it together and the progress that’s been made.
Snodgrass made a motion to approve the resolution as presented, with Klondaris providing the second. It was approved 4-0, with member George Clemens abstaining because he is a shareholder in Nextremity.
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