Slate bringing over 2,000 EV truck manufacturing jobs to Warsaw will have an big impact on the city, county and the state.
Peggy Friday, CEO of Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, said Wednesday, “We’re incredibly excited about this opportunity with Slate. (KEDCO) is all about creating wealth for the community and opportunities. And this repurposing of the former Donnelley printing plant that employed so many people back in the day is now being repurposed and brought to life again.”
She said the real story is that the Donnelley campus sat vacant for less than a year.
“We were so fortunate to find another user, especially at this caliber, to take over that campus, so we’re just excited and can’t wait to officially welcome them here, but there’s a lot of work to do between now and then,” Friday stated.
In June 2023, LSC Communications announced it was closing its doors at 2801 W. Old 30, Warsaw, by September and the closing would impact over 500 workers. LSC Communications began in 2016 when R.R. Donnelley, the commercial print and logistics company, decided to divide its services into three separate companies, according to a past LSC website.
Slate - a Jeff Bezos-backed new EV company - formally revealed itself April 24. On Friday, TechCrunch.com published an online story that Slate was eyeing the former printing plant in Warsaw for its EV truck production.
Tuesday, Slate confirmed that it was expected to be producing its EV trucks in Warsaw by 2026 and would be bringing over 2,000 jobs to Warsaw with it.
As for what those jobs are specifically, that information is yet to be announced by Slate.
“It’s a brand new startup, so they’re going to need some of everything. Specifically what those job skillsets are, we don’t know yet. We’re just getting into the process now, working with their HR department, but KEDCO will be very instrumental in helping them to identify where the workforce is coming from and then, hopefully, partner in hosting job fairs that we can expose all of Northeast Indiana to the opportunities,” Friday explained.
The work to bring Slate to Kosciusko County has been a team effort, she said.
“KEDCO was instrumental in driving this train, but also our community partners are the county, the county commissioners, the county council and the other community members that we’ve worked with. It’s just been great, it’s been a catalyst,” she said. “And, really, to bring such a larger employer here with close proximity to U.S. 30 will just help us completely tell that story that we do need to redevelop that (U.S. 30) corridor because we’re looking at bringing in 2,000 jobs.”
Obviously, the county wants those workers to live and work here, but Friday acknowledged that they know a large majority of them will be traveling on U.S. 30 to get to work.
“It’s just really critical that that corridor get the attention it deserves and needs.”
Slate’s plans for the Donnelley facilities is a win-win for everyone, Friday stated.
“The state of Indiana, this is a really great opportunity. For us, though, it’s an opportunity to diversify. We are the Orthopedic Capital of the World, we have a fantastic recreation industry here. Manufacturing. Education. Agriculture is very big in Kosciusko County. So to be able to diversify with a new, innovative project like this is really exciting because Warsaw and Kosciusko County, we’re focusing on innovation and that’s the key.”
She continued, “This reindustrialization, bringing back jobs to the United States, but also bringing such brand new technology and innovation to Indiana, we’re just really proud that we could be competitive because they could have landed most anywhere.”
Friday didn’t originally envision an electric vehicle company coming to the area.
“This technology isn’t being done anywhere else in the world, so it was all brand new to us. It’s been a really fun process to work with Slate and the team. Very hardworking, very down-to-earth Midwestern type of people. Just excited to welcome them to our community and learn more about the opportunity, about the product and it’s going to be fun to watch for them on the highways and here in town,” she said.
Slate’s timeline to get the first vehicle off the line in the third or fourth quarter of 2026 is pretty aggressive, Friday said, but the county and KEDCO are ready to come alongside them and make sure that Slate can stay on its timeline.
The message she wanted the community to know about KEDCO is, “If we bring a project to a community, the county, know that that project has been vetted and that we believe that, in our due diligence, that it’s a great fit for the community and we’ll continue to advocate for that.”
Friday said she would love to purchase one of Slate’s EV trucks herself at some point.
“It appears to be a really great product, and ... I do know that there is a buzz of people who are interested in learning more about the vehicle and what it can do,” Friday said. “We just want them to be successful, and KEDCO stands alongside to make sure that we can do everything possible to make that happen.”
Slate’s innovation really fits with the city of Warsaw and Kosciusko County, she said.
“Grace College, through the Lilly Endowment, has funds set aside to build a business innovation and research center. The city of Warsaw is repurposing the Warsaw Chemical building for innovation. We’ve got Plug and Play here. Everything is pointing to innovation, orthopedic, technology and we just want to diversify our portfolio and it’s really great to have a manufacturing opportunity that’s as innovative as this one is,” Friday said.
She’s grateful that Warsaw and Kosciusko County were able to be the site of preference for Slate because Slate could have landed anywhere in the country.
“They did their due diligence and they know that this is the place to be,” Friday said.
More information on Slate Auto and its vehicles can be found at https://www.slate.auto/en
For more about KEDCO, visit https://www.kosciuskoedc.com/