GOSHEN — Steel Harbor Inc., 22412 Innovation Dr., Elkhart, returned to the Elkhart County
Council at Saturday’s board meeting to again seek a tax phase-in.
The company, owned by Gopi Ganta, CEO of FabX Industries, requested a five-year tax phase-in, but had been denied in May, councilman Adam Bujalski explained, due to a lack of time to review ahead of the meeting.
“One of the reasons I like to have a little bit more time is to research the background of the company, the ownership, what kind of corporate neighbor they are,” he said. “I’ve seen some that come across that
aren’t a neighbor that we want in Elkhart county because we do have a great business climate here that people that come here support.”
The manufacturing facility will feature a 55,000 building specializing in high-quality steel fabrication service for automotive, architectural, furniture, and automotive industries, CEO/ President of the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County Chris Stager told the council.
They plan to invest $4 million for the construction of the new facility with an additional investment of $0.1 million in manufacturing and IT equipment. They plan to hire 28 people with an average wage of $20 per hour with benefits.
The council approved a declaratory resolution for the tax phase-in. Roll call indicated that all councilmen but David Hess and Douglas Graham voted in favor of the resolution, 4:2. Next month they’ll move for a confirmatory resolution.
• The council did not approve the Bristol Indiana Corporation’s tax abatement compliance (CF-1). The abatement was approved at roughly $50,000 per year, but due to a decrease in projected staffing, the company only did about $36,000 in the previous year. The council also did not approve General RV’s compliance due to what councilmen believed was a possible clerical error. General RV lost their abatement last year due to not informing. General RV’s compliance was tabled, to be resubmitted for reconsideration after explanation or possible correction.
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