Elkhart plant to close in March, idling 73

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Accubuilt Inc., a Lima, Ohio-based company that specializes in car, truck and van conversions, will close its plant in Elkhart and terminate 73 workers.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter sent to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and dated Wednesday, Michael Graber, general manager of the Elkhart plant, wrote the facility will close on or about March 6. The workers are not represented by a union.

Accubuilt, which also has operations in Springfield, Mo., makes Tuscany brand conversion vans and trucks at the Elkhart plant. It also produces mobility vans. All of the vehicles are converted from Ford truck and van chassis, according to the Tuscany Web site.

Tuscany was founded in 1988 in Shipshewana by Tom Graber, the Web site states. The company moved to Elkhart in 2003, and in 2006 the company's assets were acquired by Accubuilt. According to the Web site, Tuscany has 32,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space at 2811 Tuscany Drive, and it also leases a 22,000-square-foot facility nearby for metal working for Tuscany mobility vans.

Other Accubuilt brands include S&S Coach Co., Superior Coaches, Eureka, DaBryan Coach Builders and Accubuilt Mobility. The company also makes the Cadillac DTS-L luxury sedan and the W.P Chrysler Executive Series 300 extended sedan.