A 43-year-old parts company has moved into the former Cadence Innovations, LLC building and is making use of some of the company's molding equipment and some of its employees.
Michigan-based Mayco International is a tier-one automotive supplier of injection molded plastics. Since Jan. 9 Mayco has occupied the west McDonald Street production facility. Mayco began manufacturing operations there this week at the request of Chrysler, according to a spokesperson. However, unless the economy levels out and orders for Chrysler vehicles pick up, the contract work is not expected to last past the end of December 2009.
Rob Cleveland, executive director of Blackford County Economic Development Corp., said he is operating under the assumption that "we can make this a long-term solution."
"I can only assume that as Chrysler goes, so goes this business in Hartford City," Cleveland said. He called the large production facility, its equipment and available workforce "very marketable" and said he had several inquiries about Cadence last month.
Cadence, a maker of fiberglass reinforced auto body panels, shut down the local plant in mid December and did not re-open after the holidays. Cadence entered bankruptcy protection in August 2008. Details of the deal between Cadence, which owns the 1701 W. McDonald facility, and Mayco were not released to the media.
A spokesman for Mayco in Sterling Heights, Mich., said the owner is a very private person who does not make "public relations press releases" and does not seek publicity.
Mayco has called 15 former Cadence production workers back and also employs five other people locally at his time.
Mayor Dennis Whitesell said that, long or short-term, he's happy to have Mayco in the community.
"It's at least a positive thing that will help us until at least the end of December. Every little bit helps," Whitesell said. Mayco was founded in 1966 by Edwin May as a plating, painting, and parts assembly company. Not long after, the company began manufacturing molded plastic components for Frigidaire appliances and General Motors vehicles with 15 injection molding machines.
In the early 1990s Mayco won Chrysler Corporation's Quality Excellence Award three years in a row.
In 2002 Mayco International began production of exterior auto body panels from color ionomer film. The process makes more durable paintless parts for the exteriors of light trucks, cars and mini-vans, according to the company's website, and the parts can be color matched to automotive paint.
The company has won numerous engineering and quality awards, In 1996 the company achieved QS-9000 and ISO-9001 certifications and began production of more than 30 new parts for Chrysler full-sized passenger vehicles.
In 2002 Mayco achieved ISO 14001 certification for surpassing global environmental standards, according to a timeline on the website. The site also says that Mayco has more than 450 employees and more than $80 million in annual sales.
In related news, Cleveland said he had already answered one request for information on the International Paper box plant that will become available after the company ceases local production in March or April.
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