Lt. Governor Becky Skillman joined executives from Paul Wurth, Inc., an international steel and iron engineering manufacturer, today to announce the company's plans to expand its operations here, creating up to 40 new jobs by 2018.
A subsidiary of the Luxembourg-headquartered Paul Wurth S.A., the company has invested $3.6 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 55,000 square-foot facility located at 2800 E. Evans Ave. in Valparaiso. The new location, which opened its doors in May of this year, specializes in the sale of new spare parts and the reconditioning of used parts for blast furnaces.
"Northwest Indiana's steel and engineering industries receive an added boost with the expansion of Paul Wurth," said Lt. Governor Becky Skillman. "With this announcement, Indiana has once again proven its competitiveness not only in the domestic market, but in the global market as well."
Created in 1870 in Luxembourg, with its U.S. headquarters located in Pennsylvania, Paul Wurth, Inc. engineers and supplies blast furnaces and steel making equipment in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Paul Wurth currently employs 14 full-time employees at its Indiana location and is planning to hire additional engineering, manufacturing and administrative positions over the next few years.
"The company needed to expand its service operations, which focuses on servicing its equipment used in area steel mills," said Romain Frieden, president of Paul Wurth, Inc. "We have found a majority of our customers are located in the Northwest Indiana area. Therefore, we opened our shop in the area where most of the blast furnaces and plants are located. This, along with Indiana's infrastructure of highways, railways and air transportation, makes this state an ideal area for us to be located."
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Paul Wurth, Inc. up to $400,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Valparaiso also supports this expansion.
"We are very pleased that this international engineering company has chosen to invest in Valparaiso," said Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas. "Paul Wurth has a long history of providing technological expertise in the steel industry, specifically for blast furnaces; these are good jobs and we couldn't be happier to welcome them into our city. They are moving into an existing building in Valparaiso, one that housed Task Force Tips for many years - it's a great building and offers Paul Wurth a solid foundation to be successful."
Paul Wurth's announcement continues to reaffirm the Hoosier State's position as a national hub for engineering and innovation. Home to nationally-recognized engineering schools like the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Purdue University, the state of Indiana produced more than 5,400 engineering graduates in 2011 alone, according to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.
About Paul Wurth, Inc.
The Paul Wurth Group is one of the world leaders in the design and supply of the full-range of technological solutions for the iron & steel industry and other metal sectors. Our products and services cover the full range of blast furnace projects ranging from complete new ironmaking plants, furnace modernizations and relines, new or upgraded equipment and systems, plant automation and process control systems, engineering design services through to equipment maintenance and spare parts. We provide operational and system design advice and on-site services for blast furnace operation and maintenance activities. We also have an extensive range of environmental protection technologies enables our customers to improve the environmental performance of their production methods at all stages of the iron and steelmaking process so as to comply with the ever stricter regulations. Paul Wurth has an excellent reputation with more than 1600 highly-skilled staff and a vast network of international entities and affiliated companies, the Paul Wurth Group has a solid global presence in all the major steelmaking markets of the world. We draw on this network to offer the best possible solutions at the best possible price.