Another auto dealership is receiving a spit shine.Fort Wayne Nissan-Infiniti, 4909 Lima Road, is in the midst of a $2 million renovation that includes a 7,000-square-foot addition, featuring a new customer lounge with flat-screen TVs,A $17 million investment is under way at Courier Corp. in Kendallville as administrators at the publishing company plan the installation of a new press and a warehouse expansion.
The North Chelmsford, Mass.-based company said Monday that it is working with local and state officials on the project it hopes will take root early next year.
“We’re just going through the normal channels at this point to see what assistance is available as we grow,” said Peter Folger, chief financial officer of the publisher, printer and bookseller that produced more than 175 million books last year.
“There will be some job creation, but we don’t have any numbers right now. Nothing has been finalized.”
Increased business for college textbooks and specialty trade books is prompting the multimillion-dollar investment – the second in three years. In 2007, Courier said it would spend $10 million on a 200,000-square-foot warehouse.
Company leaders want to expand the warehouse by an additional 50,000 square feet before winter, Folger said.
The business reported $250 million in sales in 2009. And despite the growing popularity of e-book readers, such as the Kindle, Folger said, “We feel we’ve picked some markets where there is still room for books in printed form.”
“We’re very enthusiastic,” he said. “E-books are having some effect, but we feel there will be a place for printed books for years to come.”
Kendallville Mayor Suzanne Handshoe hopes so, too.
“The (tax breaks) they received a few years back have been well worth it,” she said. “They are our biggest employer with 700 jobs.”
Employees at the company earn an average of $14 an hour, according to Noble County records.
Handshoe expects Courier to seek an abatement request on equipment and property.
“This is great news,” said Rick Sherck, executive director of the Noble County Economic Development Corp. “They made a decision that they would continue to grow in Noble County, and we support that.”
Courier’s 2007 investment was to add about 100 jobs. Company officials said they hoped to expand Noble County operations over five years. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has given the company up to $1.5 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $500,000 in training grants based on Courier’s job-creation plans.
The state also provided a grant of up to $200,000 to help Kendallville with offsite infrastructure costs.
