CROTHERSVILLE
The second part of a three-phase project will begin soon at Aisin Drivetrain Inc. in Crothersville.
On Tuesday night, the Crothersville Town Council unanimously approved a 10-year tax abatement for a $6.5 million investment for new manufacturing equipment and a five-year tax abatement for a $75,000 investment for information technology equipment.
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The first abatement lets the company phase in paying property taxes over a 10-year period, and the second one will phase in for five years.
“They are looking at work starting almost immediately,” Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., said while speaking on behalf of the company.
Scott Shade, president of ADI, said the new manufacturing equipment is for the power steering column business. The Japan-owned company in the Crothersville Industrial Park also manufactures industrial and commercial transmissions.
ADI announced in February 2018 it planned to invest between $14 million and $17.5 million over a three year-period and add more than 40 jobs by the end of 2018. The council approved a 10-year tax abatement supporting the new investment for the first phase, which was estimated to be around $7 million.
At the time, Plump said ADI would approach the council in 2019 and 2020 to approve an abatement on whatever amount it plans to spend.
ADI is a manufacturer of a wide range of products for customers in the automotive and heavy equipment industries, including Toyota, Lexus, FCA and Nissan.
“Last year, we added the (Toyota) Avalon and the (Lexus) ES, and now, we’re going to be adding the (Toyota) Sienna, so it will be growing in that nature,” Shade said of the need for additional manufacturing equipment. “That’s the main activity at this point, the growth of the steering column manufacturing. There’s machining and assembly.”
The IT equipment infrastructure is for the facility, Shade said. The five-year abatement was requested based on the life expectancy of the IT equipment, Plump said.
This will enable ADI to retain its 414 employees.
“Although the company does not project any new hires with this abatement, I think it’s important to remember that a year ago, we were here on Phase 1 of this project, and they had talked about adding somewhere between 35 and 47 employees,” Plump said. “This project has already added 46 employees, so there are new jobs affiliated with them, but just not on this particular piece of the request.”
ADI also received unanimous approval of the compliance with statements of benefits for its 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2018 resolutions.
Joshua Malancuk, president of JM Tax Advocates LLC in Fishers, the accounting firm for ADI, said each of those years, the number of employees has exceeded expectations and capital investment commitments have been close to the projections.
That includes 2018 when 368 jobs with 40 adds were committed and it wound up at 414; $1.9 million in gross wages was to be added and it landed at $3.1 million; and $7 million in capital was anticipated but it was close to $6.8 million.
“We’re growing in head count, so it’s good for the community, and we should be here for a while,” Shade said.
ADI was founded Oct. 1, 1996, and is a subsidiary of Kariya, Japan-headquartered Aisin Seiki Co. Aisin Seiki, which is a part of Toyota Group, designs and manufactures automotive and industrial parts and lifestyle and energy products. The company is one of the top-10 global automotive suppliers, producing a variety of parts, including transmission, brake, engine and IT units, according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp.
Since 2008, Aisin Drivetrain has invested nearly $80 million into its Indiana operations, according to the IEDC.
Aisin has 10 companies in Indiana, including Aisin Drivetrain and Aisin Chemical Indiana in Crothersville, Aisin USA Mfg. Inc. in Seymour, ATTC Manufacturing Inc. in Tell City, ADVICS Manufacturing Indiana LLC in Terre Haute, Aisin Franklin Logistics Center in Franklin and INTAT Precision Inc. in Rushville.