By TJ HEMLINGER, Columbia City Post & Mail Staff Writer
TJ@thepostandmail.com
A new steel industry is coming to Whitley County that will create 15 new jobs and $1.5 million in new investment.
Steel Plus Network has begun developing a site for its first Steel Plus Distribution at the intersection of county roads 100S and 300E.
Steel Plus Network is the parent company of a network of individual steel fabricators throughout North America. There are 72 members that operate more than 120 plants.
They primarily are structural steel fabricators, selling to companies such as Wal-Mart, hospitals, schools and Walgreens.
Their engineers take designs from contractors and architects and cut steel to fit their plans.
"We bring steel in, cut it and ship it out," Wayne Massengill, operations manager, said. "We either ship stock length or cut it to specifications."
"The nature of the business is to supply the efficiency of independents," Tom Smith, president of Steel Plus Network, said. "They're all local guys, and they own their own businesses. It's a resource group as well as a buying group. We have joint purchasing power and an opportunity for members to network with each other.
"We've had a long relationship with Steel Dynamics Inc. (a Whitley County business that makes steel I-beams). A lot of members purchase from the mill."
There are 17 members within a 500-mile radius of Columbia City.
Smith said one reason Steel Plus Network chose Whitley County was because it was close to its sources and it would be as efficient as possible in the purchase and distribution of structural steel.
"We want to bring value to our members," Smith said.
Steel Plus Network was created in 1995 as a division of Canam Manac Group Inc. and became an independent company in 2005.
"One factor in our choice of Whitley County is an appreciation of local involvement," Smith said. He named the county commissioners and the county council as being helpful.
The Whitley County Council last month approved a 10-year tax abatement on real and personal property improvements associated with the project.
The site will have a 5,000 square foot saw building and two crane buildings, one 50-by-250 feet and the second 80-by-350 feet. The company has 12 acres of land but only is using four for initial operations. The buildings will start going up at the end of January, and production is expected to begin in spring.