By Stan Maddux, Times of Northwest Indiana correspondent
A company is taking over a manufacturing operation that never really got off the ground, a move that is expected to bring more than 30 new jobs to La Porte.
Steel Dynamics, a major steel producer, was extended a tax abatement by the La Porte County Council on the building along Indiana 39 and equipment that cost more than $ 8 million.
Originally, Indiana Melting and Manufacturing built the facility and tried to get started earlier this year but had less than a half dozen employees and ran out of money, said La Porte County Council President Mark Yagelski.
As part of the takeover, Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics made capital investments in the site and should be operating next month.
Old glass and manufacturing by-products such as electric arc dust from furnaces at steel mills will be used to make a sandblasting material, Yagelski said.
Initially, the operation will begin with a workforce of more than 30 with an average yearly salary $32,000 and higher.