At a glance

Despite the tough times facing the RV industry -- a key economic pillar in Elkhart County -- there are other means of dealing with the sliding economy, topic of another meeting in Goshen Friday between Feltman and a group of city, county and state leaders representing Elkhart County.

$100,000: Feltman said the Department of Commerce will provide a two-year $100,000 grant to the North Central Indiana Business Assistance Center in Elkhart. The funds will help bolster efforts across northern Indiana to translate the inordinate number of patents and industrial innovations springing from the area into new business ventures.

IVY TECH: The planned construction of a new Ivy Tech Community College campus in Elkhart County with beefed-up job-retraining facilities "is going to be a critical driver" in keeping the local economy on an even keel, he said. The planned facilities are designed to increase the jobs skills of area workers.

DIVERSIFY: There are growth opportunities for a manufacturing community like Elkhart County in life sciences, steel and food processing.

NANOTECHNOLOGY: The nanotechnology center to be built at the University of Notre Dame likely will spur new manufacturing possibilities for Elkhart County, he said.

GRANT: Additional Department of Commerce grant funding may be available to Elkhart County if it can come up with a strategy in cooperation with other area counties the bring in new companies, Feltman said.

By Tom Vandenack, Truth Staff

tvandenack@etruth.com

Monaco Coach Corp. will have to pay the state of Indiana up to $3.4 million if the layoffs of 1,400 Elkhart County workers proceed as announced.

Monaco received some $2.7 million in tax credits and training grants from the state precipitated on the firm's continued presence in Elkhart and Wakarusa. However, if the layoffs go forward in September as announced, the state would have "the fiduciary responsibility" to recoup the money plus penalties and interest, resulting in the $3.4 million figure, according to Indiana Department of Commerce Secretary Nathan Feltman.

"That said, we'd much rather not be in that situation," Feltman said Friday after meeting with officials from the recreational vehicle manufacturer. Instead, he'd like to see Monaco somehow maintain the jobs to be cut -- one of the topics of their meeting in Wakarusa -- and avoid having to pay the money back.

A representative from Monaco, which announced the layoffs two weeks ago as part of its plans to shutter its Elkhart, Wakarusa and Nappanee operations, didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

The bulk of the $2.7 million represents tax credits Monaco received for its Wakarusa operation in a 1997 deal with the state. It also received training grants for that operation and its Elkhart plant in 2003. The Nappanee site did not receive any state aid.

The Department of Commerce has flexibility to tweak the amount Monaco would have to refund if the firm can salvage some of the jobs to be cut, according to Feltman. However, it remains unclear at this stage if that will be possible.

The company is in talks with its partner at its Elkhart location about an arrangement that might save some of the jobs there. Similarly, Monaco officials told Feltman they may move an unspecified number of jobs from the three impacted locales to other plants in Goshen, Warsaw and Milford.

Nonetheless, a decision on the Elkhart plant plans may be up to two weeks away and company officials indicated little possibility of salvaging the Nappanee or Wakarusa plants.

"They indicated this is one of the hardest times for them," Feltman said.

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