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A Wells County metal parts maker plans to hire 30 workers by 2011 to produce and sell biodiesel kits.
Trusted Manufacturing Inc. started making the kits, which transform cooking oils and other vegetable oils into the alternative fuel, at its Ossian headquarters earlier this month, chief executive and owner Lane Gerber said Monday. The company acquired a Bentonville, Ark.-based biodiesel kit maker, BioEquipment Inc., for an undisclosed sum last month and transferred production to Ossian.
The company expects to invest more than $865,000 to add room for the biodiesel kit business. Construction to add 18,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space is scheduled to start early next spring, Gerber said. The project is slated to be completed in late spring.
Trusted Manufacturing has already started hiring workers for the production line, Gerber said.
The positions include office, engineering and production jobs and will pay an average of $14 an hour, he said.
Consumers and businesses use the biodiesel kits to produce fuel for diesel vehicles, Gerber said. He expects the biodiesel processing kit business to generate $3 million to $5 million in annual sales.
“It’s going to be a great addition to our company,” he said.
The company, about 15 miles south of Fort Wayne, employs 48. Trusted Manufacturing produces metal components and assemblies for other Midwestern manufacturers, Gerber said.
Trusted Manufacturing will continue to operate a sales and customer service office in Bentonville, Gerber said. Four people work there.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered the company up to $220,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $22,000 in training grants. Ossian Town Council members approved a 10-year tax abatement for the project last month, but local officials did not know how much Trusted Manufacturing would save during that timeframe.
The company is a valued member of the Ossian business community, said Mike Row, economic development director for Wells County. Trusted Manufacturing’s new business venture represents a different direction for the company, giving it an opportunity to expand.
“Basically it’s (like) a new company coming into Wells County,” he said.
jglenn@jg.net
