By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Kosciusko County is on the verge of its biggest bump in job growth in a long time with the arrival of Slate Auto at a revamped facility on Old Road 30 and Autocam Medical’s 100,000-square-foot production site currently under construction a mile away along US 30.
Slate Auto is expected to begin production of its electric pickup trucks later this year at its facility in the old RR Donnelley parking and a large number of vehicles from employees and contractors can already be seen every day as it plans to eventually employ upward of 1,900 workers.
Autocam, headquartered in Grand Rapids, has already been using part of Medronic’s facility for the past year or so and will eventually hire 300 workers at its new facility on the west end of the Warsaw Technology Park.
Combined, those two numbers represent a 5.2% increase in the Kosciusko County workforce, based on US Census statistics.
Officials with Warsaw and the county have been working to address the need for more housing for years, but is seeing some results, with the opening of two new apartment complexes in Warsaw anticipated this year, and with construction of several other subdivisions across parts of the county.
But more plans are in the works.
Peggy Simmons, the executive director of KEDCO, acknowledged that they want to see more of the new and future workers find homes nearby rather than commuting from other nearby counties.
She said they’ve been working on a housing plan for two years.
“We’re going to be making some announcements pretty soon,” Simmons told News Now Warsaw last week. “The team at KEDCO has been working with Club 720 and Mission Build from Fort Wayne to bring attainable housing here.”
Simmons, in an interview for the public affairs show, In the Know, also commented on a recent story by News Now Warsaw about the increased fuel sales at the Warsaw Municipal Airport in the past year. Much of that is attributed to flight traffic involving Slate and Autocam, according to the airport manager.
Simmons said she thinks that kind of increase, if sustained, could boost the airport in the future.
“We are hoping that the increase in usage and sales in fuel will spur the airport to grow. We know that if we want to land larger jets, we need a longer runway. So hopefully, we’re starting to make the case that the numbers speak for themselves and that there is room for growth,” Simmons said.
Plans for lengthening the airport’s east-west runway have been discussed for years but is still not a top priority.
Other long-term changes, such as a still-unresolved solution to CR 100E, have become an immediate concern.
A tunnel or another solution to that road issue is needed before runway expansion can be considered.
Simmons said KEDCO’s annual banquet is Sept. 9 at Oakwood in Syracuse and the featured speaker will be Polywood CEO Brady Maller. Representatives of Slate and Autocam are also expected to address the gathering.
Simmons joined OrthoWorx CEO Ryan Christner for last week’s public affairs show on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.
Christner highlighted current work undertaken by OrthoWorx. You can see that story here.
