We welcome you to JobBank USA and hope your job hunting experience
is a pleasant one. We hope you find our resources useful.
April 2, 2008
NEW CARLISLE - I/N Tek and I/N Kote, the steel processing plants on the eastern edge of New Carlisle, have been good neighbors, New Carlisle Town Councilman John Gelow said Tuesday.
And in return, Gelow said, the town is likely next week to grant a tax abatement to I/N Kote for a $240 million plant expansion that is expected to create up to 100 jobs.
Representatives from I/N Kote, which is co-owned by Luxembourg's Arcelor Mittal Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel, made a presentation Tuesday to the town council. They requested a 10-year tax abatement to expand the plant by 250,000 square feet.
The council is expected to take public comment and then rule on the abatement at the next council meeting, April 8.
"I'm sure it will go through," Gelow said. "We've had no problems with them; they've been good neighbors."
According to Todd Kegely, president of United Steel Workers 9231, the expansion, which would add a second hot-dip galvanizing line to the plant, has been in the works for some time. The process refers to a method of galvanizing steel by dipping it in a vat of molten zinc.
St. Joseph County had previously granted a tax abatement for the expansion in 2004 - before New Carlisle annexed the land where the plant is located - but market forces scuttled the project, he said.
Since then, Kegely said, the steel industry, through consolidation, has become stronger, and the demand for galvanized steel, widely used in the automotive industry, has increased - especially among Japanese auto makers with assembly plants in the United States.
"They (Nippon) have a strong relationship with Japanese auto makers," Kegely said. "That was really integral in this."
Not only would the expansion create 100 new jobs at a time when many are leaving the area, Gelow said, but I/N Kote has promised to hire local union contractors for the expansion, to the extent possible.
According to Kegely, workers on the existing hot-dip line make between $17.70 and $23.30 an hour.
Ron Colpitts, vice president of the town council, said I/N Kote would like to begin work on the expansion in late 2008 and be online by late 2009.
Email This Page!