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A Columbia City-based defense contractor is creating up to 45 jobs as its parent company invests $4.4 million in a new production line to make high-pressure air compressors for military aircraft, state officials announced Tuesday.
Undersea Sensors Systems Inc. expects to launch the line in September, President Roland Fritts said. The company will hire 15 to 20 additional employees by the end of this year. The remainder will be hired next year as production ramps up, he said.
USSI is best known for manufacturing Sonobuoys, which are sensors that can search for and detect submerged submarines. The company also makes communications equipment for first responders.
Fritts hailed the investment by his division’s parent company, Ultra Electronics Holdings, saying it increases diversification, which will allow the division to continue its rapid growth.
The recession largely has bypassed USSI, which more than quadrupled in size in the past 10 years from $18 million in annual revenue to more than $80 million in 2009. The company added more than 100 employees last year, Fritts said.
Ultra Electronics now makes military-aircraft air compressors at an operation in the United Kingdom. Company officials decided to move production of the compressors being sold to the U.S. Defense Department to Columbia City, the largest of the parent company’s U.S. entities.
The new jobs will include about 10 engineers who will earn $50,000 to more than $100,000 a year, based on experience. Other openings will be for technicians with associate degrees and other skilled workers. They will be paid $30,000 to $60,000, based on experience.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered USSI up to $565,000 in performance-based tax credits and $150,000 in training grants based on job creation plans.
Whitley County officials on Tuesday approved a 10-year tax abatement on real and personal property improvements associated with the project, Fritts said.
USSI is one of the largest employers in Whitley County, Commissioner Michael Schrader said in a statement. “We will continue to support the company’s ongoing growth and success,” he said.
