The battered manufacturing industry is showing signs of life in Kosciusko County.
Flexaust Co., which makes reinforced flexible hoses, plans to invest $3.5 million to renovate and equip a vacant building to increase capacity. The manufacturer expects to create 25 additional jobs as it expands into the 53,000-square-foot building at 602 Leiter Road in Warsaw, economic development officials said Tuesday.
The new jobs will pay $11 to $14 an hour, according to Jeremy Skinner, city planner.
The company, a subsidiary of Germany-based Schauenburg GmbH, now employs 160 at 1510 Armstrong Road, Warsaw. Flexaust’s hoses are used by industrial and commercial customers.
Warsaw City Council has approved tax abatements on the project for an unspecified amount.
During the same session, council members approved tax-increment financing for a second project, first announced in October, that the city will recoup through increased taxes.
Winona PVD Coatings, based in Warsaw, will invest $11 million in construction and equipment to expand operations there. The company will create 60 new manufacturing jobs, which will pay $11 to $14 an hour, Skinner said.
George Robertson, president of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., said both companies received competitive offers to move operations to the South. Retaining employers is as important as attracting new ones, he said in a prepared statement.
