Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Mayor Greg Ballard joined executives of Allison Transmission, global manufacturer of automatic transmissions, today to announce the company’s plans to expand its operations and product offerings here, creating up to 205 new jobs through 2013.
Allison Transmission, the world’s largest manufacturer of fully-automatic transmissions for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, tactical U.S. military vehicles and hybrid-propulsion systems for transit buses, plans to invest more than $89 million in its Speedway operations. The majority of the investment will be directed toward improving existing infrastructure, manufacturing operations and production equipment. Allison’s board of directors recently approved the production of a new commercial duty transmission for tractor trailers, which has been in development for several years.
“On the day we learned that Indiana surged forward in March by nearly 10,000 new jobs and that our unemployment rate continues to drop below the nation and all of our neighbors, we welcome this further piece of good news. Momentum is building in the Hoosier economy, and Allison, for generations one of our greatest companies, is a big part of it,” said Governor Mitch Daniels.
Allison Transmission, which currently employs nearly 2,500 people in Speedway, hired 50 employees earlier this month. Additional positions will begin to be filled as facility upgrades are phased in throughout the Speedway campus over the next two years.
“The state of Indiana, the city of Indianapolis, the town of Speedway and the great people in this community have all been good to Allison Transmission for a very long time and we appreciate the support. As our company looked at our Speedway campus and thought about future growth and expansion, the critical element we lacked here was room to grow. Today’s announcement to redirect 10th Street in front of our Speedway facilities changes all of that and puts our company in a position where we can grow our business, expand our product offerings, hire more people and expand our global headquarters here in Central Indiana,” said Lawrence E. Dewey, Allison Transmission chairman and chief executive officer. “We have been a long-time corporate member of this community and we plan on maintaining our presence here.”
Founded in 1915 by Jim Allison, one of the original four founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allison Transmission was purchased by the Carlyle Group and Onex Corporation in 2007 from General Motors.
“Allison Transmission has long been an Indianapolis success story. The company’s continued growth and substantial investment will provide new job opportunities for hundreds of workers in Indianapolis and new high-tech products for their customers around the globe,” said Mayor Greg Ballard. “The city, state and town of Speedway have partnered to support this major expansion, which will further cement the company’s presence in Indianapolis.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation will assist the town of Speedway in applying for up to $5 million in federal highway funds from the Indiana Department of Transportation. The city of Indianapolis will provide additional infrastructure assistance at the request of Develop Indy.
