(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte County manufacturing company is expanding for the second time in four years.

 

O'Tech Corporation was awarded a 10-year tax abatement Monday night by the LaPorte County Council on $2.9 million in new equipment.

 

Owner Jack O'Donnell said the investment is in response to continued rising demand for the products made at the Rolling Prairie plant just off Indiana 2 near 450 East.

 

The company, a leader in thermoplastic compounding and one of the largest vinyl compounders in the Midwest, develops, designs, and makes plastic beads used in the cable and wiring industries along with soles for footwear.

 

O'Donnell says that business is booming, and the new equipment will nearly double the current production levels. Twenty additional jobs over the next 12 months are projected but possibly more judging by higher than anticipated growth in the company's workforce after the last expansion in 2018.

 

The forecast was ten additional jobs from an over $2 million investment in new equipment, but another 40 positions were created. O'Donnell, who founded the company 24 years ago, hopes similar things to happen again. 

 

The company has 87 employees, said La Porte County Office of Economic and Community Development Executive Director Tony Rodriguez.

 

"This particular company has performed well in La Porte County," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said the over 200,000 square foot plant would be at total capacity once the new equipment is installed in the only space available to grow within the facility.

 

"I believe they will be using 100-percent of their facilities, and they'll be doing it very efficiently as well," Rodriguez said.

O'Donnell suggests that turnover problems have eased up since he recently increased wages for production-related positions to between $19 and $20 an hour. Those jobs previously paid $15 to $16 an hour.