Wieland Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of furniture and transportation interior components, announced today that it will expand its operations in Indiana, creating up to 120 new jobs by 2015.
Headquartered in Goshen, the company plans to invest $1 million to improve existing facilities and purchase specialized machinery to enhance production capabilities in its 210,000 square-foot facility. These improvements are planned in several phases spanning the next three years.
“Wieland Designs’ continued investment and expansion in our state exemplifies the confidence companies have in Indiana’s business climate,” said Gov. Mitch Daniels. “Our low-tax policies and highly-skilled workforce have made Indiana the premier manufacturing state in the country.”
Founded in 1976 by Cliff Wieland, Wieland Designs began as a manufacturer of automotive seats for the van-conversion industry. Today, the privately-held company designs, engineers and manufactures furniture and transportation interior components for the healthcare, corporate, residential, automotive and airline industries.
“At Wieland Designs, we’re very proud of our world-class design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Our customers reaffirm that opinion as we continue to experience strong growth across all of our business segments,” said Kip Wieland, chief executive officer of Wieland Designs. “Our success is a testament to our team of Goshen-based associates. With its business-friendly policies, high-quality administrative and engineering talent and strong labor force, it makes sense for us to expand right here at home in Indiana.”
The company, which currently has 146 employees in Indiana, will begin hiring additional sewing operators, manufacturing and administrative associates later this month. Wieland Designs will be holding an onsite job fair, Oct. 22 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at its 901 E. Madison headquarters in Goshen, to provide information, accept applications and screen candidates for up to 35 full-time industrial sewing operator. These positions offer competitive wages, a generous, affordable health insurance program, paid vacation and a 401(k) retirement savings plan that includes a company match on associate contributions.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Wieland Designs, Inc. up to $1,300,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $100,000 in training grants based on the company’s job creation plans. The city of Goshen will consider additional property tax abatement.
“Wieland Designs is poised to execute an aggressive growth plan and we are delighted they have selected Goshen for this expansion project,” said Mayor Allan Kauffman. “We are pleased to partner with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation in bringing a significant number of new skilled jobs to Goshen.”
Just last month, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the Elkhart-Goshen area was one of the third fastest growing metropolitan areas in 2010 with overall real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 13 percent. These gains put this metro area in third place in the U.S. for highest real GDP growth.
