Laura Walls, Executive Director of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation appeared before the Marshall County Council last week to update them on a variety of items.
Walls said the final numbers are not ready yet because there are still a couple more weeks of the year, but it appears there was $75 million in capital investment this year in the county with an estimated 220 new jobs. She said she expects the numbers to go higher and that most of it involves existing companies who have expanded.
Walls said the shell building or manufacturing center at Jim Neu and Pioneer Drive is complete and the punch list has been addressed. There is an agreement to purchase the property and the new company, which hasn’t been announced yet, is already working with Majority Builders to expand the facility. She said the closing date hasn’t been set yet but should be in the coming weeks. Walls said this will be the first project that was under contract prior to completion, and she estimated a profit of $200,000.
The new company does something in the recycling field and will hire about 20 initial employees and pay about 10% above the average wage in Marshall County.
The Economic Development Director also said Indiana Wheel was the very first company in the Regional Development Authority which includes Elkhart, Marshall and Saint Joseph counties to skill-up a couple employees through the LIFT Program. After their 2 years of training they are expected to see a pay raise of 25% to 35%.
