By Roger Schneider
WAKARUSA, Ind — An electric vehicle company that has promised to create jobs in Elkhart County, has moved its offices to Plymouth.
Electric Motors Corp. said it moved to Plymouth and hired Roger Umbaugh, who is a retired certified public accountant, as chief financial officer. Umbaugh retired from H.J. Umbaugh & Associates, which is headquartered in Plymouth.
Ralph King, chief executive officer for EMC, said the headquarters move to Plymouth is temporary, as the company plans to manufacture and assemble products in Elkhart County. He said the accounting offices of the company will most likely stay in Plymouth.
Too big
EMC previously had its offices in the former Monaco Coach office building in Wakarusa. The building is a large structure with an expansive glass-walled showroom for recreational vehicles.
“The building in Wakarusa was great,” King said. “It was simply too large and expensive for our company today. We hope the people of Elkhart County will understand that we have to run a business as a business. Being in that huge space was just inefficient.”
King also promised the company will return to Elkhart County.
“We are still committed to Elkhart County for our manufacturing and assembly and will return to an Elkhart facility more suited to those functions in the near future,” he said.
King had been the chief financial officer until replacing Wil Cashen as CEO Wil Cashen late last year. Since then former Detroit auto executive, Frank Jenkins, has been named company president.
“Roger’s experience will be a tremendous asset to EMC and I am glad to be on the same team as someone with such a great business savvy,” Jenkins said of Umbaugh.
Umbaugh’s former company specializes in financial services for governmental units, such as school boards and city councils.
King said Umbaugh, has many contacts in the financial industries in Indiana. He said Umbaugh will establish the financial structure of EMC and utilize his many connections in government, banking and securities to the benefit of EMC.
Umbaugh is president of Marshal County’s Industrial Development Corp. and has served on the boards of the Investment Committee of Marshall County Community Foundation and St. Joseph Hospital in Plymouth and St. Joseph Regional Hospital.
Introduction delayed
EMC is working to develop two electric-powered pickup trucks, one for the commercial fleet market and one for the retail market. The company’s drive system combines a gasoline engine with in-line electric motors.
The unveiling of a vehicle at the New York City auto show in April has been canceled. King said that vehicle was more of a show truck and since Jenkins has come on board the decision has been made to concentrate on commercial vehicles.
“That has more to do with Frank Jenkins and his input and knowledge,” King said.
He said buyers of commercial trucks aren’t usually looking for high tech.
“They want a work truck. That is why that truck, as designed, may not be relevant as we move forward.”
What’s next?
He said EMC will be making some big announcements in the coming days that will set the course of the company for the next 10 years.
King added that the news will involve future manufacturing and assembly in Elkhart County.
“We are coming to the very end of huge negotiations,” King said.
The company applied for federal grants for manufacturing electric vehicles in 2009, but those grants never materialized. King said that effort was a learning experience as there was not enough engineering specifics included in the grant applications.
“We’ve had a crash course in how all that stuff works,” King said.
And there is still interest in obtaining financing from the government, according to King.
“We’ve had contact from the state and federal governments,” he said. “We are looking at opportunities we did not get from the federal government the first time around.”
But the company is not relying on government grants for developing its business, King said.
“We are not dependant on grants to do what we do,” he said. “We think we have substantial private support out there that will come out with the next ppm (private placement memorandum with the Securities Exchange Commission). But grants never hurt.”
