ANDERSON, Ind. —
An Anderson manufacturing company will be calling a former General Motors plant home.
ERTL Enterprises, which manufactures commercial combustion valve trains for the glass and steel industry, will occupy former GM Plant 16 at 2316 Jefferson St. in Anderson.
In 2010, Phil Berry, owner of Northwind Electronics, acquired the building from the Anderson Redevelopment Commission. Through recent negotiations between Berry and Dan Ertl, owner of ERTL Enterprises and ERTL Fabricating, Ertl has now assumed the conditions Berry had with the city regarding the building and has also agreed to have Northwind as a future tenant at the plant.
“We are all very excited about the expansion the company is making,” ERTL office manager Laurel Webb said. “Anderson has seen such an economic downturn, and we are trying to revitalize some of the economy and get people back to work.”
ERTL Fabricating, which makes vacuum trailers and frac tanks for the oil industry, has been a tenant at the former GM plant for the past year. Webb said it made sense for ERTL Enterprises to expand where the other company already existed.
In addition to the investment ERTL is making on improvements to the plant, Webb said the companies will be hiring 10 to 15 more people. The kinds of employees the companies are looking for include general assembly and experienced welders. Those interested need to apply for the job through WorkOne. The companies currently employ 20.
Anderson Economic Development Director Linda Dawson said the expansion into the plant is a great one for the community.
“This is right in line with the city’s mission of growing jobs within the existing business sector,” she said. “All the national statistics show that around 85 percent of all job creation is from existing business expansion. Too often it is very easy to put all of your resources into relocated companies because they make good announcements. But it is your existing business base that stabilizes your community.”
Berry purchased the building to begin Northwind — a contract manufacturer that specializes in electrical systems and components for work vehicles and other capital equipment manufacturers — and began site upgrades to the tune of $100,000 but was slowed as the venture process was slower than expected. During that time, Ertl expressed an immediate need to expand there and began negotiations with Berry after a relationship between the two was established with the help of Anderson’s Economic Development Department.
“Anytime a vacant plant is occupied it means there are additional jobs for local residents,” Dawson said. “And it means the neighborhood has a very safe, active facility in their area as opposed to a vacant facility that draws vandalism and criminal elements.”
ERTL Enterprises, a 10-year-old company, has been in Anderson since 2005. It will be leaving its current location at the former Emge processing plant at 1711 W. 18th St. and has been working with the Redevelopment Commission to get a new company into the location.
The former GM plant is a better fit for the manufacturer with the combustion systems ranging from 6 to 20 feet in length and weighing from 500 to 3,000 pounds.
“We basically just have to make cosmetic changes,” Webb said of the plant, adding they needed to create office space and add some more piping for water. “The great thing about it is that the previous GM plant already had hoists and things in there that go right along with both of our businesses. The building is a great addition to what we already do.”
The company hopes to be moved into the former GM plant within the next three to six months.
“I personally feel like this is a great opportunity to put such an iconic building back into service,” Webb said. “We are doing our part to get that area of Anderson revitalized.”
Contact Abbey Doyle: 640-4805, abbey.doyle@heraldbulletin.com
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ERTL Enterprises will occupy the former Delco Remy Plant 16 at 2316 Jefferson St. John Cleary
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Local firm moving into ex-GM plant
ERTL Enterprises plans to hire as many as 15
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