Allied Manufacturing Inc., a startup modular-building company, announced Wednesday it will locate its first manufacturing plant in Angola, creating 35 jobs.
“We are just so committed to encouraging businesses like this,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels, who was in Angola for the morning announcement.
Allied Manufacturing hopes to begin hiring within the next month or two and plans to start production in the third quarter, treasurer Andy Garman said Wednesday. Average pay for the new jobs is $19 an hour, Garman said, and the company is looking for skilled trades workers and office staff. Interested applicants can apply at the Angola WorkOne office.
The company will manufacture buildings for franchises, including Ritter’s Frozen Custard. Modular buildings are manufactured in a factory, then sent by truck and moved by crane to their final destinations.
Modular buildings have several advantages over traditional buildings. They cost about 15 percent to 25 percent less than on-site construction, depending on the location of the building, Allied Manufacturing President Stephen Garman said. Modular buildings can also be finished more quickly than a traditional building, Andy Garman said. And because they are assembled in a factory, modular buildings are not subject to weather delays as traditional buildings are.
“We see this modular building model working very well for franchises,” Andy Garman said.
Allied is setting up operations in the former Fab-Glas Industries building at 300 Industrial Drive in Angola. Fab-Glas filed for bankruptcy in June 2002 and later ceased operation. Gary Nielander, executive director of the Steuben County Economic Development Corp., said Fab-Glas is one of eight vacant buildings that have become occupied since the economic development corporation was created about four years ago.
“It’s great to see the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well,” Nielander said.
The modular-building business has been booming in northeast Indiana recently. Allied Manufacturing is the third modular company to start up or announce expansions since November.
On Nov. 19, a subsidiary of Elite Manufacturing LLC in Angola announced plans to add 60 jobs to its Angola operations by 2010. Like Allied Manufacturing, Elite manufactures modular kiosks and buildings for franchises. But Nielander said the two companies won’t compete directly because they focus on different types of franchises.
Andy Garman said he hopes Elite Manufacturing and Allied Manufacturing will “put Angola on the map as the modular building capital of Indiana.”
kpeterson@jg.net