Jobs

PLYMOUTH - Help is on the way for more than 100 workers who suddenly lost their jobs in Plymouth. Whitley Products closed its doors on Thursday without warning, leaving employees upset with the company. Whitley, which is headquartered in Warsaw and had facilities in Plymouth and Franklin, North Carolina, makes precision tubular products for diesel engines, agricultural equipment, off-highway, construction equipment and HVAC markets. WorkOne is taking quick action by holding two job fairs and informational sessions for the workers who lost their jobs at Whitley.

WINAMAC - The state of Indiana says new jobs are coming to Pulaski County. GalFab Acquisitions is expanding in Winamac, creating 85 jobs over the next two years. The company makes waste handling equipment and will invest $720,000 to lease, renovate and equip the a building in Winamac. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered the company $700,000 in tax credits the help because of the new jobs being created.  

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana Gov.-elect Mike Pence is keeping more top state officials in the positions they've held under Gov. Mitch Daniels. Pence announced Friday that Karl Browning will remain the Hoosier Lottery's director and Scott Waddell will stay as commissioner of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. Browning became the lottery director in 2011 and has overseen the hiring of a private company to run the lottery's marketing, sales and distribution services. He became the lottery drector after Kathryn Densborn resigned amid controversy over spending on a posh new agency headquarters.

An update on a Goshen plant that is moving its work out of the country: The Indiana Department of Workforce Development announced that all workers of Cequent Performance Products are eligible to receive services under the federal Trade Adjustment Assistance program. Those services include a wage subsidy of up to $10,000. The TAA program is made available to workers who are displaced due to shifts in production out of the country. Cequent is moving its plant to Mexico, putting almost 450 people out of work.

MIDDLEBURY - A steel parts galvanizing manufacturer is hiring management, maintenance and manufacturing personnel - creating up to 60 new jobs - for its move to a facility in Elkhart County. That's according to a news release issued Friday morning by Indiana Galvanizing, LLC. They will invest $3 million to equip and renovate a 97,000 square-foot facility in Middlebury that will be operational by next summer. “The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Indiana Galvanizing, LLC up to $400,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans,” according to the release.

Indiana's next governor spent part of his morning in South Bend. Exactly one month ago today voters elected Congressman Mike Pence. Pence is a social conservative, butut says he is very focused on the economy. The state legislature is talking about putting a ban a same sex marriage in the state constitution, defining marriage between a man and a woman. If passed, it could then go to voters to decide through a statewide referendum in 2014. This is what Pence told WSBT this morning when asked if he would support banning same sex marriage in the state: I respect the role of people elected to serve in the General Assembly, and I will consider issues that they raise, as they come up.  But our focus is going to be in jobs and schools.

WARSAW - Dozens of new jobs could soon be coming to Warsaw. Micro Machine Company, an orthopedic medical device maker, has announced plans to build a new manufacturing facility in Warsaw, creating up to 60 new jobs by 2015. The Kalamazoo, Mich.-based company will spend $2.8 million to lease, renovate and equip an 11,000 square-foot space at 4310 Corridor Dr. The new building opened its doors this past September. “Today's announcement builds on our strength as the orthopedics capitol of the world and is the latest proof that Indiana continues to spur an economic ecosystem that fosters strong investment and job creation,” said Dan Hasler, Secretary of Commerce and Chief Executive Officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.

GOSHEN - Some just bought homes, others were planning Christmas shopping -- now, workers at Cequent, who just learned that they'll soon lose their jobs, are wondering how they'll get by. “It's nerve wracking,” said Jennifer Ankrom, whose husband has one of 450 jobs which will be moved to Mexico. “(It) puts a lot of stress on the family, puts a lot of stress on the marriage, it puts a lot of stress on everything,” she said while waiting outside the plant, Wednesday.

GOSHEN - Workers at a Goshen manufacturing plant got the bad news Wednesday they feared but expected. Heading into the Thanksgiving weekend, 450 employees at Cequent Performance Products found out they're about to lose their jobs. Cequent's parent company is moving its Goshen operations to Mexico. A union official told WSBT the announcement for the company to leave Goshen was made at shift change. Cequent makes parts for the automotive industry. No word when the company plans to close its doors.

ELKHART COUNTY -- Hundreds of new, local jobs are on the horizon after plans were announced for a new R.V. plant in Elkhart County. Fortress Technologies wants to start production in the building that once housed Pilgrim International R.V. in Middlebury. The company would add more than 6.5 million dollars worth of equipment -- which could eventually translate into 266 new jobs. The County Council has given preliminary approval for a tax phase in requested by the company.