TOPEKA —
The largest employer in LaGrange County is about to get a little larger.
Crossroads RV in Topeka announced Wednesday a 93,000-square-foot expansion project that is expected to add up to 250 new jobs by 2014, while retaining the 613 current employees already in place at the Topeka and Syracuse plants.
The project will include the purchase of land — for approximately $3.9 million — and construction of the facility, which is expected to be complete by June of 2012. The new facility will house the company’s Cruiser product line.
“The new plant will give us the needed flexibility to expand our Cruiser line of RVs,” said Don Emahiser, president of Crossroads, in a press release provided by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). The group offered Crossroads close to $2.25 million in conditional tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax-credits are performance-based, which means that the company cannot claim incentives until they begin the hiring process. Topeka Clerk-Treasurer DeWayne Bontrager said — pending approval of tax abatements expected at Wednesday’s town council meeting — that roughly 100 of those jobs could be filled as soon as the facility is built in June. Representatives with the town council confirmed Wednesday evening that the approval had indeed been approved.
A changing community
Topeka has come a long way from the reputation as a predominantly farming community it used to have, according to Willard Miller, store manager of Northern Nutrition.
“Fifty years ago, there were no factories around. Then Starcraft and others started making their way here,” Miller said. “It has been a big help.”
While there are many small “mom-and-pop shops” that define the community of Topeka, the advent of large manufacturing industries over the years has given the town a chance to showcase many of the amenities that keep people coming back to visit and even taking up residence. The expansion of Crossroads is another example of that, according to Bontrager.
“Local people won’t have to travel so far to work, and this will bring new people here as well,” he said.
Chris Deisler, owner of Deisler Chiropractic in downtown Topeka, said that in the three decades that he has lived and worked in the area, he has seen a steady increase in the development of businesses in the small LaGrange County town. That’s a good sign given that a majority of the population of the county lives in LaGrange, the county seat.
“The decision-makers have done a good job over the years of adding businesses,” Deisler said. “I’ve been here 30 years and it’s amazing to see a town this size be able to do that.”
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Crossroads RV in Topeka announced Wednesday that it is planning an expansion project that will add 250 new jobs to the area by 2014. JUSTIN CRIPE | The Goshen News
Topeka RV plant to add 250 jobs
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