NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

July 1, 2011Great Week for Southwest Indiana

Anytime one can announce an expansion of a key existing business or broadcast a new company coming to a community, it has been a good day. But, to make back-to-back announcements of Berry Plastics expanding their Evansville operation and North American Lighting becoming the first tenant in the North Warrick Industrial Park makes for a very good week indeed.
 
Berry Plastics’ continued strong growth has paid significant dividends for Evansville and Southwest Indiana. In 2008, Berry Plastics employed 995 workers in Evansville and today their employment stands at 1,719 with another 120 new jobs to be added by 2013. Coupled with the acquisition of Rexam’s closure business, Berry Plastics has quickly become one of the top 5 manufacturing employers in the tri-state region.
 

The success of landing North American Lighting (NAL) to Warrick County should be credited to the efforts of Larry Taylor. As head of the Warrick County Department of Economic Development, Larry has tirelessly worked to market the North Warrick Industrial Park to regional, national and international prospects; and, the landing of NAL should help to further promote the strategic value of the industrial park to Southwest Indiana. NAL is a wholly-owned division of the Koito Group, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of automotive and aircraft lighting equipment; and, when complete the new Warrick County facility will be a state-of-the-art high-tech mold, tool and die operation employing 42 highly skilled workers with an initial investment of $16.4 million.