Warner Electric expanding operations in Whitley County

Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

Warner Electric, which makes clutch and brake systems, sensors and switches, is consolidating operations at an Illinois facility and moving them to the company's plant in Columbia City. As a result, the company expects to hire 20 employees in Columbia City by 2012.

Presently, Warner Electric employs more than 100 in Columbia City. In a statement released through the Indiana Economic Development Corp., the company said it will begin hiring manufacturing and supervisory workers in the fourth quarter as the new business is phased in.

Warner Electric, which primarily serves the material-handling, turf and garden and agricultural equipment markets, is owned by Braintree, Mass.-based Altra Industrial Motion Inc.

"The downturn in the industrial economy requires us to improve the utilization of our North American manufacturing infrastructure," David Ebling, vice president and general manager of Altra Industrial Motion, said in the statement. "We have a creative and productive workforce in Columbia City that enables us to locate additional strategic production activities here."

In the statement, the IEDC said it will offer the company up to $145,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $75,000 in training grants based on its job creation plans. The City Council also approved a County Economic Development Income Tax incentive award to support building and infrastructure improvements.

The amount of the improvements wasn't immediately available.