NAPPANEE — The Nappanee and Wakarusa communities are joining forces once again not to create a school system this time but rather a job system The Wa-Nee EMC Electric Motor Vehicle Industrial Complex.
The Nappanee City Council and Wakarusa Town Council held a joint session Wednesday evening in what Nappanee Mayor Larry Thompson called a history-making event to adopt a joint resolution in support of the Electric Motors Corp. development objectives.
Wil Cashen, president of Electric Motors Corp., gave a presentation about the industrial complex to come, how it all came about and what will take place to create jobs for the hard-hit areas of Wakarusa and Nappanee. Cashen, a former Mishawaka resident and graduate of Penn High School, had some ties to the Wakarusa area, he went to school with Wakarusa Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Hartman and said he worked at Holiday Rambler back in the 1970s.
Californian has motor system
Cashen, who now lives in California, contacted Wakarusa Town Manager Tom Roeder in January and said he wanted to visit Wakarusa to see if he could bring his electric motor system to the town. Cashen visited the area in February and met Thompson and Roeder and the three men visited several manufacturing companies and facilities in the area.
He said because of the unemployment challenges, opportunities arise that might not otherwise have come.
“I want to take the stuff you’ re already making and make them electric,” he said.
The Electric Motors Corp. will be the chief agent for the electrification of light duty and mid-duty trucks and recreational vehicles.
Comparing himself to a maestro of an orchestra, Cashen said he will be finding companies to bring to the Wa-Nee area or re-educating existing companies to create this electric motor system. He said this will mean manufacturing of small engines, parts, power controls, batteries and chassis and the creation of a research and development center and an educational center.
His plan is to create, one step at a time, an engine manufacturing consortium, electric motor generator manufacturing consortium, a battery assembly company consortium and a chassis manufacturing company consortium.
The industrial complex will be located in Wakarusa at Nelson Parkway and Ind. 19.
The little park will supply all the bits and pieces needed, he said.
Some of the work will be in Wakarusa and some will be in Nappanee.
“We want to localize it and make it vertical. This whole entire area becomes economically strong,” Cashen said.
Cashen said he and Thompson and Roeder have been to the Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. for some of the funding and he said the Department of Energy forecasts that this type of device is expected to grow by 1,000 percent by 2013.
Studebaker tried it
Cashen also pointed out that what is about to be done locally is very similar to what the Studebaker Car Co. attempted to bring about in 1906.
“The world chose a different path of fossil fuel energy,” he said in reference to Studebaker.
The resolutions
The resolutions adopted by both councils basically state that it is in the best interest of both communities to work together and they will cooperate with each other and with EMC to ensure that these plans will continue to move forward.
They did not state which local businesses would be a partner in this endeavor or how many jobs are expected to be created. That information was anticipated at this morning’s press conference, which Gov. Mitch Daniels was to attend.
Roeder said he called Mayor Thompson about this project because, “I knew it was bigger than Wakarusa. We have the same school system and I felt this was something that could be really important to many folks in our two communities. Our residents go to church together, go to school together and I felt it was important that both Nappanee and Wakarusa work together — it’s an exciting thing.
Hartman said that since Cashen is from the area, “He knows we have people here who can work and they have the knowledge needed. I think those are the two things that brought him back here.”
Thompson said Cashen is a “wonderful man. Not only is he passionate about his project but he’s most passionate about putting our people back to work
Thompson cautioned however that it was going to take some time before those jobs would be created. The mayor speculated it could be close to a year before there would be jobs.
“But now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before now we couldn’t see the light,” Thompson said.
Cashen said he is “trying to make it happen as quickly as I can,” and said, “I want to fill every vacant building in the area."
Thompson said he and Roeder are optimistic that this collaboration will see the hard luck headlines replaced by stories of this region being among the first in America to emerge stronger and more prosperous.
“It’s all about putting people back to work. We’re all ready for some good news,” Roeder said.
