Dozens of Jobs Planned For Angola
Ventra Angola is owned by Illinois-based Flex N Gate.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA new contract with General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) has prompted an Illinois-based company to expand a northeast Indiana facility. As part of a planned $8.1 million investment in the Ventra Angola plant, parent Flex-N-Gate Corp. says it could create nearly 90 jobs over two years to keep up with demand.
Plans call for Ventra Angola to boost production by 70 percent in Steuben County. Flex-N-Gate, which is one of the largest original equipment suppliers in North America, also has operations in Covington and Veedersburg. It currently employs 25 in Angola and expects to begin installing new equipment at the facility early next year. The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says the new jobs are expected to pay an average salary 40 percent higher than the Steuben County average.
Flex-N-Gate Vice President of Procurement Bill Beistline says "today’s news wouldn’t be possible if not for the commitment and talent of our workforce in Angola, a workforce that has been directly responsible for years of success and now an extremely promising future for our Ventra operation. We are also grateful to Mayor Hickman and the Indiana Economic Development Corp., because it takes a special kind of partnership to create jobs and make expansion plans of this magnitude a reality. Our company is proud to operate three plants in Indiana, all of them thriving, and there is no question the best days for our Ventra operation in Angola are just ahead."
Ventra Angola has been offered up to $650,000 in conditional tax incentives. The IEDC says the company acquired the former Meridian Automotive property in 2009 and partnered to pump $800,000 into the facility to keep-up production of roll-formed tubes, bars and other products for Ford and GM.
Ventra says production is expected to ramp up in a year and hiring could being this month. You can connect to more about the expansion by clicking here.