Carver Non-Woven Technologies bringing 65 jobs to Fremont

The company, a manufacturer of non-woven parts, will invest $17.13 million to renovate and equip the former Amcast Automotive plant at 706 E. Depot St., which has been vacant since 2008.

The 143,580-square-foot facility will house state-of-the-art equipment allowing Carver to create high-end, lower weight, quality fiber products for automotive, recreational vehicle and household products for customers. The non-woven products are fabric-like materials that are bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat and solvent treatments. Renovations are already underway and the company plans to begin production in the second quarter of 2016.

Carver is a new subsidiary of Indiana-based R3 Composites Corp., which announced plans to establish a manufacturing facility in Grabill in 2011. Carver has already begun hiring and plans to employ 65 associates by 2018 with wages both above the state’s average and more than $7 an hour above the Steuben County average wage.

“The technology Carver Non-Woven will introduce to the non-woven market will be cutting edge in its ability to create low variance sheet weight (density), highly homogeneous resonated blends and multiple fiber/glass matrixes with superior dimensional stability and mechanical properties,” said Kirk Klein, chief financial officer of R3 Composites.

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered Carver Non-Woven Technologies up to $475,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These incentives are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Fremont will consider additional incentives at the request of the Steuben County Economic Development Corp.