Mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a rain shower. High 81F. Winds light and variable..

Cloudy in the evening with scattered thunderstorms developing after midnight. Low 63F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.

B&J Medical on U.S. 6 west of Kendallville is adding $7.6 million in new equipment to its facility and received a 10-year tax abatement from the Noble County Council.

Kammerer Dynamics will build a 22,000-square-foot expansion to its facilities in Kendallville for $1.5 million as well as bring in $1.04 million in new equipment.

B&J Medical on U.S. 6 west of Kendallville is adding $7.6 million in new equipment to its facility and received a 10-year tax abatement from the Noble County Council.

Kammerer Dynamics will build a 22,000-square-foot expansion to its facilities in Kendallville for $1.5 million as well as bring in $1.04 million in new equipment.

ALBION — When Kerry Leitch, the plant manager from the B&J family of companies in Noble County says he’ll be bringing in new industrial investment, you can bank on that.

Noble County does, and the man never disappoints, as proven again on Tuesday.

This time, Leitch showed up before the Noble County Council with a new $7.6 million expansion for B&J Medical on U.S. 6 west of Kendallville, with the company seeking a 10-year tax abatement on the new equipment being purchased for the medical device manufacturer.

And he wasn’t alone, either, as the Noble County Council also considered an abatement request for $2.54 million from Kendallville-based Kammerer Dynamics.

Up first, Leitch and Noble County Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Gary Gatman brought in the tax break request for B&J Medical with the big investment number.

The $7.6 million accounts for five CNC lathe machines, two vertical machining centers, wire machines and X-ray equipment to scan parts, Leitch said.

All of it is being used to create medical devices and implants such as bone screws and joint pins among other products.

“It’s new equipment. Some of it has arrived, a lot of it still is to come and they’re getting it online and it all has to be evaluated before they can even put it in production,” Leitch said.

The expansion is expected to create at least eight jobs, but Leitch said he anticipates B&J Medical would be able to take on more than that once the lines are fully operational.

“The jobs are understated, so I keep it low that way. I think they’ll hire more than that. It depends on how many shifts they keep the equipment running,” Leitch said. “I anticipate more than that.”

The investment total qualified it for a 10-year tax break, with the council having a brief discussion about where it fell on their guidelines. The listed hourly rate for new workers was below what was recommended for a 10-year abatement, but Leitch noted that workers typically earn significantly more as they’re running overtime hours that can boost up their annual earnings.

Kendallville has recently been having conversations about the particulars of its guidelines and whether it needs to adjust investment totals, wage rates or job creation figures in consideration of new abatements. Although that conversation is taking place in Kendallville, it’s relevant in Noble County government, too, since the county modeled its tax break guidelines off the updates Kendallville made in late 2018.

Still, when all was said and done, council members had no qualms about sticking with the 10-year term for another big investment by the B&J companies.

It’s the latest in a long string of expansions for the B&J companies.

In April, the council OK’d a 10-year tax break for a $6.8 million expansion at B&J Medical; $5.4 million for real and personal property expansions at B&J Medical in May 2021; $1.07 million for B&J Specialty in October 2020; and $143,000 for B&J Specialty in March 2020.

And there is still more to come as Leitch promised he’ll return in 2023 with more growth, with a planned $9 million expansion as B&J adds another facility.

“I’ll be back next year,” Leitch said on his way out.

As for Kendallville-based Kammerer — its plant off U.S. 6 and C.R. 600E is just outside the city limits and therefore in Noble County’s jurisdiction — the metalworker is expanding both its facility space and its equipment base.

“We’re going to add on to that building, basically doubling the size of that,” office manager Alison Peterson said of the proposed real property changes, building onto what is already a new-ish facility.

Kammerer will be spending $1.5 million to add 22,000 square feet, which Peterson said is needed to be able to grow not only space for its laser work and robotic welding, but also to grow its in-house powder coating capabilities.

The powder coating was something Kammerer added recently in order to keep more of its process in-house and not have to send its metalwork out for treatment, and it’s been a major boon, Peterson said.

“It’s been a huge, great addition for us and be able to keep the work in house and not have to send it out,” Peterson said. “That new building will allow that and then moving some stuff out of the old building into the new building.”

Aside from expanding the powder coating station, Kammerer will add an additional laser cutter and robotic welder, which will allow the company to increase its output.

“They’re not keeping up with customer needs and needs of our production lines,” Peterson said. “We need another laser to keep up and keep our customers happy.”

That equipment will run $1.04 million, bringing the total project expenditure to $2.54 million.

Kammerer Dynamics last received a county abatement in November 2020, when it received a five-year break on an $800,000 expansion.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

Your comment has been submitted.

There was a problem reporting this.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.

We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.