By Keith Roysdon—
DELAWARE COUNTY, IN—As Delaware County officials conclude a trip to northern Italy they are happy to announce new investment and business opportunities are coming to the community. Commissioner President, Shannon Henry and Commissioner Vice President, James King announced Monday the success of their latest economic development efforts. Henry and King spent the week visiting with twenty-five firms with interest in establishing operations in the United States. In addition, the duo made a case for doing business in East Central Indiana to CEOs representing firms in various advanced technology industries. The new and soon-to-be developing investments adds to the number of Italian firms growing in Delaware County.
Pictured L-R: James King, Andrea Burini, Shannon Henry
The first firm signing a Memorandum of Understanding to locate their investment in Delaware County was Gamma Meccanica- a well established family firm that manufacturers machinery that recycles plastics. Currently housed in a facility of over 200,000 square feet in Bibbiano, Italy and employing over two hundred people, the company is a leader in designing, engineering and manufacturing large plastic recycling equipment. Recognizing the increased volume of plastics going to waste in North America, the company plans to initially invest in a facility to house machinery that will be used as demonstration and prototyping for purposes of securing future orders.
The company is currently producing and shipping plastic recycling and other heavy machine equipment all over the world including the American market. Until now the company has had no facility or operational presence in the United States. Company CEO Andrea Burini said, “We were fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit Delaware County earlier this year. The work and support that County Economic Development Director Brad Bookout put into helping us made the difference in our decision. We are delighted to now set our roots to be a part of the Muncie-Delaware County Community and we look forward to working with more residents and local companies as we advance our plans.”
The second firm, Trebi Srl is a robotics firm that currently has an established sales office already in Delaware County (the result of a previous economic development trip) and now intends to advance that operation to a warehouse location. The firm committed to ensuring that Delaware County remains their North American Headquarters and they further intend to ship their advanced cutting and deburring robotic machinery to the community for distribution throughout the America’s.
Pictured L-R: James King, Fabrizio Vito, Giacomo Calabria, Shannon Henry
Trebi’s Chief Engineer, Piercarlo Bonomi said, “Delaware County is a terrific location for our U.S. operations. Being centrally located in the Midwest, there is an incredible customer potential for us in all of the surrounding states, cities and towns. Our growth potential is incredible. We were happy to have welcomed the Delaware County Commissioners to our facility during this important time in our companies growth. We are intent to grow, invest and expand in Delaware County, Indiana.” Currently located in Brescia, Italy, Trebi is recognized throughout Europe as a leader in the manufacturing of robotic equipment that performs work that is otherwise considered dangerous, dirty and low skilled.
The third company committing to develop operations in Delaware County is Vi-Technik Srl. Based in the northeastern city of San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. Vi-Technik serves as a supplier to major Automotive OEM’s, TIER 1 and other Fortune 100 companies. Recognized as an industry leader Vi-Technik products can be found in many vehicle brands worldwide. Among other things, Vi-Technik manufacturers advanced plastic technology for ADAS systems on autonomous driving camera apparatus’ for various vehicles both currently in mass production and those scheduled for future production.
The company signed a memorandum of understanding to establish their operations in Delaware County. Vi-Technik will start by leasing a 15,000 square foot facility in the south Muncie Industria Center, bring in excess of $1.8 million in new technically advanced robotic equipment and over time hire up to forty skilled technician associates.
A special thank you for the international relationship development of Vi-Technik goes to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the help of Italian manager Sabrina Riccardi- on this important project. Ms. Riccardi said “Having the opportunity to foster the development of this strategic partnership for new investment in the State of Indiana and now having the company sign a commitment to proceed has been a real honor. I look forward to seeing the future success of this world class company in Indiana.”
Vi-Technik President & CEO Fabrizio Vito commented, “We looked at many locations in the Midwest before choosing to visit Indiana at the encouragement of Sabrina Riccardi.
Once in Indiana, the reception and relationship we developed with Brad Bookout in Delaware County to help us advance our plans was second to none. In addition, we are happy to be in an area with a strong presence of other Italian firms.” Vi-Technik plans to begin equipping their facility early spring of 2024 with production goals targeted for summer.
Recognizing the need to diversify our local economy, County Commissioner James King said, “We are very happy with the success of the trip and wish to welcome these great new firms to our business community. When our community was heavily invested in two or three industries, we had all our eggs in one basket. When the auto industry went down, our whole community went down. Our new approach is diversification of business in various advanced technical sectors by promoting relationships with both existing and new companies.”
County Commissioner, Shannon Henry stated, “The diversification of our local business community means that other industries can participate in the multipliers of business that come from the new investments. These new businesses also bring a host of higher skilled employment opportunities- giving residents a variety of industry sectors to choose from and possibly bringing new business sectors by-which to advance their careers. Brining higher skilled technical positions to our community is important to me. We are happy to welcome the new investments from Gamma Meccanica, Trebi and Vi-Technik.”
Having a long presence of Italian firms, Delaware County continues to promote new and expanding investment of companies throughout the community. Already having four Italy based firms operating in county, the new commitments bring the total to seven. Those Italy based firms with already established Delaware County ties include:
- Muncie Power Products- (subsidiary of Interpump Group of Reggio Emilia, Italy) with headquarters in downtown Muncie and now in full production in a 112,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility on Priority Way in Park One, Delaware County.
- IMA INOX Market America based in Padua, Italy is a stainless steel slitting and cutting company, who in 2021 constructed a state of the art new 140,000 square foot facility in the south Muncie Industria Center on South Cowan Rd. in Delaware County.
- Filtrec North America based in Bergamo, Italy is a recognized leader in advanced machinery filtration. The company now occupies an 18,000 square foot light manufacturing and warehouse facility on Co. Rd. 400 South in Delaware County.
- FT Casting (Fonderia Taroni) based in Alfonsine, Italy has established their corporation in Indiana and occupies a North American sales presence at the Innovation Connector on White River Blvd. in Muncie.
Accompanying the Commissioners during the overseas visits were Brad & Lisa Bookout of Augusta Consulting LLC- serving as the County’s Director of Economic Affairs and Bill Walters representing the East Central Indiana Regional Planning District. Previous and current investment trips from the County have resulted in tens of millions in new capital investment within the county and resulted in the creation of hundreds of new employment opportunities.
The Delaware County Commissioners, wish to thank the new businesses for selecting Delaware County, Indiana. Recognizing that they have many choices, the County pledges to continue to support and assist with their investments.
About Delaware County Economic Development
Dynamic and forward-thinking economic development is the specialty of Delaware County, Indiana. In 2015 the Delaware County Commissioners privatized the County’s economic development activities with Augusta Consulting, LLC. Since that time, the County has developed its own business retention and expansion programs that are in constant contact with the multitude of industry within the County. Efforts have resulted in hundreds of millions in new local investment and the creation of many new advanced employment opportunities. In addition, efforts to identify and attract various suitable industry throughout the world are undertaken on an annual basis. For more information, contact Brad Bookout at bbookout@augustaconsultingllc.com