Twelve Steuben County businesses were recognized at the Steuben County Economic Development Corporation’s 8th Annual Meeting on Wednesday night. The Excellence in Business awards are presented to businesses in the county that have created or expanded operations. This represents the 6th year the awards have been handed out.
Recognized for their investment and growth in 2010 are:
Dollar General (New store construction in 2010 – directly next door to that other dollar store, hired staff, stocked the shelves and proudly serve the area of DeKalb and Steuben counties)
Gangster Grille (Formerly known as another name we may not want to mention, new ownership acquired the restaurant and bar in January 2010 – expanded the full-time staff from 5 to 10, plus 2 additional part-time jobs in 2010)
MTR Machining Concept (Acquired the business in 2005 with three employees. By 2010 the workforce grew to 8. Two new jobs were created in 2010 through an investment of nearly $110,000 in new machinery. MTR is investing and growing again in 2011.)
General Products (Added 12 jobs (could be as many as 18) to their existing 59 employees in 2010. This included an investment in new machinery in the amount of $425,000)
Steffy Wood Products (Added 38 jobs to their existing 34 employees in 2010. This included an investment of $700,000 for a 20,000 sft building addition, and equipment valued at $1,538,000)
Univertical Corporation (They have grown their workforce from 53 in 2009 to 68 currently, a total of 15 new jobs in Steuben County. $885,000 was invested in remodeling and rebuilding a 30,000 sft building and an additional $1,600,000 in new machinery and equipment.)
Advantage Concrete (A member of the Klink Group, Advantage Concrete acquired real property – land and buildings – abandoned by Hartford Concrete Products. Advantage reworked and renovated the old concrete batch plant into a state of the art ready mix concrete plant, including five front-discharge trucks. Over $900,000 was invested in new equipment and eight new jobs have been created as a result.)
K-Tech Specialty Coatings (K-Tech is another member of the Klink Group – a manufacturer and distributor of natural deicer products. They have been investing in Steuben County since 2008, including the most recent investment of $200,000 in 2010 for an additional 8400 sft of packaging and warehouse space. Total employment was at 11 with one additional job expected to result from this investment.)
K-Co Pack (acquired an existing 74,000 sft facility in Ashley – previously occupied by a similar bottling/packaging company, K-Co Pack invested $875,000 in manufacturing equipment and created 35 new jobs in 2010).
Ferry Morse Seed Co. (This Kentucky based company acquired and cleaned up the former Indiana Wire facility in Fremont and created a distribution and processing facility for a variety of gardening supplies, largely sold through WalMart, Home Depot and other retailers. 11 full-time positions were created, overseeing a season staff that can grow upwards of 50 people during peak seasons.)
Industrial Steering Products / Triton Metals Products (This metal fabricator relocated from Ohio, consolidating operations in two facilities totaling 60,000 sft into a 95,000 sft facility in Hamilton. While the relocation is still in process, over $1,000,000 will be investing in building repairs and upgrades, between the two companies an additional $1,000,000 has been relocated or acquired. The workforce had grown to 35 this time last year and – according to yesterday that number has doubled and is now at 72.)
Orland Mid Town Market (Last but by no means least – the Orland Mid Town Market started operations in 2010. Formerly a Super Valu store, it was acquired before closing, remodeled and filled the shelves. 10 people currently work at the market. Not to be taken for granted)