Fortis Security Products has announced it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Kentucky to Indiana, creating up to 15 new jobs by 2013.
The seven-year-old company has outgrown its current location in Hebron, Ky. and plans to invest $5.8 million to build a new facility for its headquarters with manufacturing and warehousing operations in Dearborn County, IN. Fortis Security Products manufactures vaults, safes, drive-up systems and interior furnishings for banks and financial centers.
“Recruiting a headquarters from another state is no small task so we are grateful to the many parties at the state and local levels that provided Fortis Security Products the confidence to decide that Indiana is the best state to grow a business,” said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
The company plans to break ground on the new facility in the next two weeks and anticipates being operational by the end of the year.
“With improving economic conditions we wanted to be prepared for additional demand and looked to expand. While relocating a manufacturing facility is a huge undertaking, Mayor Doug Hendrick, Greendale Redevelopment Commission, Lawrenceburg Regional Grants Program, Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Dearborn Economic Development Corporation and the Lawrenceburg Conservancy District all worked together to make this possible,” said Fortis Security Products spokesperson, Dallas Farley.
Maxwell Construction based in Greendale, Indiana was selected as the contractor for the project.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Fortis Security Products up to $80,000 in performance-based tax credits and $18,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. Greendale and Lawrenceburg also offered incentives to attract the company’s relocation.
“This is good news for Dearborn County,” said Michael Rozow, Jr., executive director of the Dearborn County Economic Development Initiative and Chamber president. “We believe our area is perfect for companies like Fortis. They wanted to expand, they wanted to remain in the Tri-State, they wanted good access to an interstate highway, and they wanted to reduce their tax and workers’ compensation rates. That’s us.”
Since the creation of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in 2005, more than 100 companies have located or expanded their headquarters in the Hoosier State, bringing an anticipated more than 19,000 new headquarters jobs and more than $1.5 billion dollars in new capital investment.
