Tag:Marshall County
Viking Paper Expansion
We were pleased to be selected to be the contractor for the Viking Paper expansion project in Plymouth. There was a blurb on the expansion in Inside Indiana Business here, but somehow they failed to mention us! Shame on them!
It is proving to be an interesting project. The building is being designed to have train cars enter the building for unloading at a recessed loading dock. This is involving some interesting logistics including some esoteric clearance requirements provided by the railroad engineers. (The ones that design railroad tracks, not the ones that blow the whistles when the trains cross the highway…) Viking works with large rolls of paper stock, so being able to offload their materials inside the building and out of the weather is valuable to them.
Jerry Chavez and Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) have been instrumental in helping us move this forward, both with the City of Plymouth and with the Railroad.
MCEDC Successfully fills the Commerce Building
Commerce Building – New home of Pretzels Inc.
MCEDC has been pleased to have the Commerce Building, a new shell building in Plymouth, to market to companies considering our area. Started in 2014 and completed in 2015, the Commerce Building has been responsible for bringing many companies to Marshall County that wouldn’t have otherwise considered us. At least one new business start-up, investing millions and providing hundreds of jobs, located in Marshall County this year because of coming to see the Commerce Building. The power of having a shell building to show has proven its value to us.
Below is a press release on the relocation of Pretzels Inc. to Plymouth. A good company and a good fit for Plymouth. Now we need to figure out how to keep this momentum going forward.
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Snack Producer Plans to Add Second Indiana Facility, Create 65 New Jobs
Plymouth – Pretzels Inc., a pretzel and snack producer, announced plans today to expand its operations here, creating up to 65 new jobs by 2020.
“Here in Indiana, we have worked diligently to establish Indiana as the best place to do business by reducing regulations, cutting taxes and investing in our workforce,” said Governor Mike Pence. “Today’s news is evidence that Indiana is a state that works for companies like Pretzels Inc. as they continue to choose Indiana to grow their operations. As we enter into our third century, we will continue our economic momentum by equipping our job creators with the tools they need to succeed and creating a pro-growth business environment.”
The company, which is a pretzel and snack food private label provider, will invest approximately $15 million to purchase and equip a 45,000-square-foot facility at 2910 Commerce St. in Plymouth. The new plant, which will be the second Indiana location in addition to its Bluffton-based headquarters, will be responsible for the production of peanut butter and bulk pretzel products and will replace the company’s Pennsylvania-based manufacturing facility. Operations are expected to start at the beginning of 2017.
Pretzels Inc., which currently has 330 full-time employees at its headquarters in Bluffton, Indiana, plans to hire plant management and supervision, packagers, bakers, machine operators, quality control technicians and sanitation, maintenance and warehouse workers for its new center. Hiring will begin later this year.
“We are excited about the opportunity to build our new plant in Indiana and particularly the Plymouth area,” said Chip Mann and Steve Huggins, co-owners of Pretzels Inc., whose fathers started the business over 40 years ago. “We are lifelong Indiana residents and are pleased to continue the growth of our business in our home state.”
Founded in 1978, Pretzels Inc. is a family-owned business headquartered in Bluffton, Indiana. The company offers pretzels in over 50 shapes, 20 sizes and 900 varieties for both store brands, private labels and its own Harvest Road products. Its fastest growing product line is peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets, which will be produced at the new Plymouth-based facility.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Pretzels Inc. up to $350,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Plymouth will consider additional incentives at the request of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation.
“The City of Plymouth is proud to welcome Pretzels Inc. into our community,” said Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter. “Plymouth will see the benefits of job creation and a strengthened economy very soon thanks to a team of both state and local leaders who have come together to make this project a reality.”
The Hoosier state ranks first in the Midwest and fifth nationally for the cost of doing business and companies like Pretzels Inc. continue to choose Indiana to grow their operations. Today, one in five Hoosiers work in the manufacturing industry and more than 8,500 industry establishments are located across the state.
Buxton Farewell
Pam Buxton
Saturday night Becky and I attended a farewell party for John and Pam Buxton at John and Carol Zeglis’s home. John Buxton is leaving his position as Head of Schools at the Culver Academies and they will be moving to the east coast. John and Carol honored them by asking representatives of the various charitable and service boards and committees they served on over their tenure at Culver to come and say a few words about their service to the community. I am sure I will miss some, but there were representatives there from the Marshall County Community Foundation, Leadership Marshall County, LIFT, Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council, Lake Maxinkuckee Gift of Warmth (Film Festival), Culver Boys & Girls Club, Culver Lions Club, St. Joe Regional Medical Center and the Town of Culver.
John Buxton
There were 30 guests in attendance and as John Zeglis said, there was as much overlap between those in attendance as there was between the various groups and the Buxtons. I know I have had interactions with all of these groups and served on several of their boards and subcommittees.
Both of the Buxtons have been very involved in our community. While most of my direct involvement was with Pam, I witnessed John’s influence in many other areas. To paraphrase one of John’s comments, “When you are guiding the 900 pound gorilla through a community you don’t always get to participate in some of the hands on things which interest you.” While that’s true, their influence was felt and their presence will be missed.
Build Your Future Indiana
Lest anyone think I know when to stop beating a dead horse, I thought I would share some pictures from the Build Your Future Indiana guide. It’s sponsored by Associated Buildings and Contractors of Indiana/Kentucky and as a Board Member, I received a copy at a meeting last week. The guide promotes construction as a career in Indiana. (I plan to share my copy with Jerry Chavez at MCEDC the next time I see him.) It gives job descriptions and base wages for careers in various construction trades.
One of the things that currently is a problem in Indiana is finding construction workers. We need to encourage young people that the construction industry is a viable career and educate them that it is a career with potential, but one that requires mental as well as physical skills.
So about that poor horse… I’ve reprinted the rear cover of the guide to the right. Notice the Wind Turbines in the background? Seems that when I go to most other areas of the State, they’re proud of Indiana’s alternative energy initiatives. But not Marshall County… Even though we have people that work in the wind conversion industry living in our county and manufacturing parts for the industry in our county.
Most pages in the guide have three trades per page. The Wind Turbine Maintenance Tech gets his own page and apparently around $46k per year. Sounds like it could be a sweet gig!
Okay, I’ve beat the poor beast enough. As if I hadn’t beat him enough here and here and here. Feel free to search for “turbine” in the search box on the right if you want more. Try “Extended Territorial Boundary” if you want to see me get really wound up!. No guaranties that I won’t run across something else that warrants a rant about this, but the poor horse could be an extra on The Walking Dead at this point…
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