Crown expansion to mean 100 new jobs, $11 million investment

Friday, April 14, 2017

Crown Equipment Corp., which opened operations in Greencastle more than 20 years ago with expectations of hiring 200-250 people, currently boasts a local workforce of 667 and plans to add 100 more employees over the next four years.

The additional 100 workers, along with a total new investment of $11 million -- $1 million in real property improvements and $10 million in new equipment -- will come as a result of Crown expanding into former TechnoTrim building on the city's East Side.

Those employment and investment numbers were disclosed Thursday night as the Greencastle City Council conducted a public hearing on the tax-abatement request from Crown Equipment and Force Holdings LLC and then unanimously passed Resolution 2017-5 declaring the property an economic revitalization area and recommending tax abatement.

Councilman Dave Murray made the motion to adopt the resolution, which was seconded by Gary Lemon and made unanimous by Council members Adam Cohen, Stacie Langdon, Steve Fields and Tyler Wade. Councilman Mark Hammer was absent.

The 10-year tax abatement on the improvements and new equipment will still see Crown pay more than a half-million dollars in additional taxes over the period, while saving more than $700,000 through the abatement.

"It is worth noting," Council President Cohen said during the public hearing, "that since 2002, Crown has contributed over $3 million in property taxes."

The exact total is $3,291,052, including a figure of $426,347 for Crown's 2016 payable 2017 taxes.

The forklift manufacturer's planned new 100,000-square-foot facility at the northwest corner Fillmore Road and State Road 240 is literally just across the highway from the main Crown plant at 2600 E. State Road 240. Crown is leasing the old TechnoTrim plant from Harold Force of Force Holdings LLC, Columbus, in a three-year agreement with the possibility of purchasing the building and 18.82-acre site in the future.

In 1996, New Bremen, Ohio-based Crown originally came to Greencastle by purchasing the former Sherwin-Williams building on the south side of State Road 240, and now owns 38.48 acres surrounding it.

"We greatly appreciate Crown's investment in our community and the additional employment opportunities," Greencastle Mayor Bill Dory said in a statement. "The company has been very supportive of community growth and educational opportunities. The products produced in Greencastle by local residents support Crown's global operations and strengthen Greencastle's connections to the global economy."

Officials indicated renovation of the TechnoTrim plant are expected to begin as soon as possible.

In recent years Crown has ratcheted up its Indiana employment. In 2011 the company announced plans to add 143 workers at the Greencastle plant and add a new, 150-employee facility in New Castle. However, Crown exceeded both hiring goals and now employs 850 full-time employees across the two Indiana facilities.

The expansion, Crown Plant Manager Scott Spear said, is a byproduct of company growth.

The new jobs, Spear told the City Council, will be "factory jobs, from assembly to welding."

It remains to be determined, the plant manager said, what operations will be moved to the north side of the road although he doesn't believe crossing the highway will be a safety issue for the company.

"It's not uncommon to us," Spear said, noting that while employees still need to be cognizant of the issue, the New Bremen operation also has long had properties on both sides of a state highway without an issue.

Meanwhile, Kristin Clary, Greencastle/Putnam County Development Center director, noted that there already have been conversations about possibly reducing the speed limit in the area, which is near the end of the industrial corridor.

In another statement, Crown Vice President of Human Resources Randy Niekamp spoke to the company's "continued investment in the manufacturing base already established in the Greencastle area."

"The dedication and productivity of the local workforce is key to helping expand our production capacity and continue to fuel our global growth," he added.

Crown was offered up to $800,000 in conditional tax credits and training grants from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to keep the expansion in Greencastle.

Clary, explained that the Crown project "became competitive with another state (one of the Carolinas)," prompting Indiana to sweeten the pot with the $800,000 in performance-based incentives -- $650,000 in tax credits and up to $150,000 in training grants based on the company's job-creation plans. The Greencastle Redevelopment Commission has agreed to provide $46,000 in matching training grant funds.

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