Local and national sites quickly picked up the recent press release from the IEDC about our expansion. Sherry Slater, of The Journal Gazette, contacted us shortly after the latest press release hit the wires and spoke with Winona PVD’s CEO, Jamie Visker. Here is the article:
Warsaw-based supplier to beef up equipment, hire 70
WARSAW – A Warsaw-based auto parts supplier is tripling its workforce.
Winona PVD Coatings LLC will invest $9.16 million in equipment in the next year as it creates up to 70 new jobs by 2012, state officials announced Wednesday.
The company, which now employs 35, applies physical vapor deposition coating on aluminum automotive wheels. The company promotes the coating as a less expensive and more environmentally friendly alternative to chrome plating. Aluminum wheels are coated or painted to prevent corrosion.
About 75 percent of Winona PVD Coatings’ products are sold to automakers for new cars. Customers include Chrysler, Ford, BMW, Jaguar and Lexus. The remainder are sold through auto parts stores – what’s known as the aftermarket.
New positions will include engineering, supervision, lab technician and production. Production workers will make $12 to $20 an hour, CEO Jamie Visker said. Supervisors and engineers will earn more than $50,000 a year, he said.
Hiring is scheduled for later this year. Visker is not yet accepting applications.
Winona PVD Coatings operates in 68,000 square feet of leased space at 1180 Polk Drive, Warsaw. The landlord constructed the building to its tenant’s specifications and will do the same with a 62,000-square-foot expansion. Visker, who estimated the new building’s price at more than $1 million, hopes to break ground by Sept. 30.
George Robertson, executive director of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., applauded the announcement.
“Winona PVD is our poster child for a recovering American economy,” he said in a written statement. “Using technological innovation and state-of-the-art manufacturing, it is producing a superior product in quality, value and environmental safety.”
Visker praised the region’s skilled workforce and the teamwork of state and local officials, who offered incentives on the project.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered the company up to $525,000 in tax credits based on job creation. The Warsaw City Council has initially approved tax increment financing bonds for the project. WorkOne Northeast has offered training assistance.
