“We were too tight in the building that we have. There was machinery that we needed to purchase for our industry to stay competitive. In order to keep up, it requires a lot of floor space and a lot of machinery,” Hensley said, noting that his company purchased 20 acres in 2017 in order to build the new facility.
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The New Carlisle City Council and Clark County commissioners approved an enterprise zone agreement in 2017 for Fab Metals. It provides the company a 10-year, 75 percent tax abatement for the new construction and the property tax abatement is worth about $400,000.
Fab Metal has invested the $8 million into the expansion that included purchasing equipment such as lasers, new press brakes, machining centers, turning centers and overhead cranes. The manufacturer makes metal components for 300 customers in various industries, with trucking and automotive making up a large portion of its orders, Hensley said.
The company currently has around 40 full-time employees and plans to add between 14 and 19 more once the expansion is finished, he said. Some of the new jobs will include machinist, wielders and some assembly workers. Fab Metals has hired 10 additional employees since construction on the new facility began early last year.
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Some workers and equipment, such as two 15-ton overhead cranes, have been moved into the mostly completed facility, said Mark Hensley, who is an engineer for the family-owned and operated business. He said the new building is connected to the manufacturer’s main facility that was constructed in 1997.
“We are taking one step at a time. Our buildings are set for further expansion. We have a lot of land to build on if need be,”said Mark Hensley, whose father owns the company.
Tom Hensley said he hopes the current expansion provides enough space for the foreseeable future as his business has continued to grow over the years.
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By the numbers
40,000: Square-footage of new Fab Metals facility
100,000: Total square-footage company will have once expansion is completed
$8 million: Cost of Fab Metals expansion, including new equipment
14-19: approximate number of new full-time workers to be hired once expansion is completed
10: Number of new employees hired since construction began in 2018
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