Hundreds of jobs potentially coming to Elkhart County
By John Kline
THE GOSHEN NEWS
Elkhart County Council members Saturday approved declaratory resolutions for possible tax phase-ins with two new companies that could bring hundreds of jobs to the area within the next year.
A tax phase-in is typically defined as the partial or temporary exemption of a company from having to pay property taxes with the purpose of stimulating economic development.
Included among the two companies being considered for a tax phase-in is Energy-Inc., an international energy infrastructure development company based out of Las Vegas, Nev., that specializes in the design, construction, and management of waste-to-energy plants.
According to Kim Kirkendall, president and chief executive officer of Energy-Inc., the company is currently interested in constructing one of its state-of-the-art conversion plants at the old Crystal Valley Patriot plant in Middlebury.
The focus of the new plant would be the production of equipment used in the gasification of waste materials into energy, with everything from landfill gases to cow manure a possible energy source.
“Anything other than nuclear waste we can process,” Kirkendall said.
Through its construction, Kirkendall indicated that the plant has the potential to bring in as many as 500 new jobs within the next year along with nearly $100 million in equipment and infrastructure investments.
“All the equipment that we’d bring here is all brand new,” Kirkendall said. “These are all new jobs.”
Kirkendall said the average annual salary for the new jobs would be about $45,000, bringing the annual payroll of the facility to approximately $20 million.
What’s more, Kirkendall indicated that waste production from the facility will be virtually nonexistent, as the plant will be able to produce its own electricity, recycle its water, and even process its own waste.
“That’s the beauty of our system,” Kirkendall said. “We have a zero carbon footprint.”
As for a time frame for construction, Kirkendall said the company would be ready to build as soon as it gets the word that the phase-in request has been approved.
With the declaratory resolution approved by the council Saturday, the company will now seek a confirmatory resolution and passage of the phase-in at the council’s next meeting in September.
In other business
Also approved Saturday was a declaratory resolution with Truck Accessories Group, an Elkhart-based company specializing in the production of travel trailers and campers.
According to Dorinda Heiden-Guss, president of the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County, TAG is currently requesting a seven year tax phase-in to allow for expansion of its current facilities.
She said such an expansion is expected to result in an increase of assessed value of approximately $600,000 as well as a $1.8 million increase in personal property investment.
The expansion would also bring with it approximately 60 new jobs, Heiden-Guss said, bringing the company’s total workforce in the area to around 320.
Average salary for the new positions would fall around $35,000.
As with the Energy-Inc. phase-in agreement, the approved TAG agreement will now move forward for review and possible passage at the council’s upcoming September meeting.
