Seemingly in the blink of an eye, Think North America Inc. and the electric cars it manufactures are in Elkhart County, Ind.
Though it arrived in Elkhart in an instant, local and state leaders see the new vehicle technology maintaining a lasting presence in the city — and the region, according to The Elkhart Truth.
“This is a huge positive, a huge moment for our state,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said. “This may well be the defining new technology in transportation.”
Top executives and a number of politicians gathered Tuesday (Jan. 5) to announce that the newly acquired facility on Elkhart’s Magnum Drive, will house Think’s first North American factory. The company’s small-but-sleek electric cars are already on European roads, and will make their stateside debut once production begins in early 2011.
More than 400 people will be hired, according to documents filed with the city, including about 100 by this time next year. Think, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Norwegian car maker Think Global, plans to spend $55 million on machinery and equipment for its new facility and another $1.2 million on improving the property itself.
“We’re going green and diversifying at the same time,” Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore said. “Exactly what we’ve been looking for.”
NO HARD FEELINGS
For months, it appeared that Middlebury was destined to be the home of Think’s new plant, but negotiations with the property owner broke down just a few days ago.
The company quickly turned to its back-up site, a 205,000 square-foot building on 12.7 acres on the east side of Elkhart. The Magnum Drive facility was the former home of Philips Products, which until mid-2009 employed 250 people and made windows and doors for recreational vehicles.
The Elkhart County Council had already approved a tax abatement for the company, but now that Think has located in Elkhart, the city will be the one offering the incentives.
No hard feelings remain in county government, officials said, since the jobs and development are staying here.
“It really doesn’t make any difference whether this facility goes in the city or the county,” said John Letherman, county council president. “As long as it’s in Elkhart County somewhere.”
THE WAY FORWARD?
State and local officials, meanwhile, said they are fully prepared to jump on the electric vehicle bandwagon. For an area crippled by unemployment and coping with a struggling RV industry, a new type of manufacturing offers an intriguing way forward.
Daniels, for one, said Think’s announcement was a “historic” move and that Indiana can soon become the “state of electric vehicles.” If that holds true, he said, Elkhart County will become that new state’s capital.
“I think the possibility of growth in demand for a vehicle like that could mean we’re back here in a couple or few years,” the second-term Republican said, “with a similar or larger announcement.”
As the county began to fall into a recession and unemployment numbers climbed, experts and local leaders said diversification was the key to rekindling success. No longer could the area rely on one industry to drive growth — instead, multiple operations in multiple fields had to fill that void.
Think, along with fellow local electric vehicle makers Electric Motors Corp. and Navistar International Corp., look somewhat similar to existing Elkhart industry. They’re making new, innovative types of vehicles — but they’re still vehicles, an often shaky business.
But civic officials say that isn’t a cause for concern. Electric cars are an emerging technology, one that has proven to be profitable elsewhere and can do so here, as well.
“This is absolute diversification,” U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd, said. “This is a whole new technology that will have other suppliers come in. That technology will not only be in vehicles, but in other areas, too.”
WHERE’S THE MARKET?
Still, in order for electric cars and trucks to become a profitable industry here, there must be buyers, and lots of them.
Think Global CEORichard Canny said his company sees an emerging U.S. market for smaller, ultra-efficient cars. Think’s predecessors, like the Smart Car and Mini Cooper, have prepared American minds for the idea of driving the polar opposite of a giant, gas-guzzling SUV.
“It kind of opened an opportunity for a whole segment of cars that are different from what Americans have traditionally wanted,” Canny said. “It seems like in certain communities and certain geographies, there is a market for a car that is small.”
Plus, for electric cars to succeed there must be the infrastructure to support them. The vehicles must be plugged in and recharged, requiring an electrical grid that supports the possible heightened demand.
In Europe, Canny said the electric car chicken-and-egg scenario was cracked when the vehicles were finally available on the market. Develop the cars, he said, and the necessary infrastructure will soon follow.
“It tends to come together with the availability of the cars in the market,” he said. “You don’t sit back and say ‘Well, let’s do the infrastructure first and then try and sell some electric cars.’”
GROWING THE NETWORK
That history has business executives and local politicians dreaming of a network of electric vehicle manufacturers and suppliers located in and around northern Indiana.
With three companies here already and a key electric car battery supplier — EnerDel — in Indianapolis, Daniels believes a foundation is being laid. A burgeoning network is growing, he said, one that will improve transportation and efficiency and create jobs in the process.
Once the infrastructure to support such vehicles is developed here, he said, further growth will follow.
“To support a 415-job assembly plant, you need thousands of jobs in the parts and components sectors,” he said. “We think a very high percentage of those will be nearby or certainly in Indiana.”
The future of this area may continue to rest on the success of manufacturing, officials said, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just as long as it remains in an industry with a bright future and growing potential.
“We have to recognize the fact that, in Elkhart County, we make things, and we do so very well,” Letherman said. “If we jump on it and push and hustle and do the best we can, I think this will be a home run for everybody.”
ELECTRIC MOTORS CORP.
Entrepreneur and northern Indiana native Wil Cashen introduced his startup in May 2009 in Wakarusa. He announced plans to partner with recreational vehicle manufacturer Gulf Stream Coach Inc. to build hybrid-electric pickup trucks and projected the creation of 1,600 new jobs.
In September, EMC unveiled a prototype of the retrofitted Ford F150.
THINK NORTH AMERICA
Think Global chose Elkhart County as the place to manufacture its all-electric compact car after a year of researching possible sites across North America. It received an $2.7 million tax abatement from the city of Elkhart and an incentive package worth more than $3 million from the state of Indiana. The company has also applied for a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Originally part of Ford Motor Co., Think cars were available in the United States in the early 2000s. The company then spun off and, most recently, received a needed $47 million infusion of equity funding from Indiana-based EnerDel.
Think plans to start production in 2011 and create more than 400 jobs by 2013.
NAVISTAR INTERNATIONAL CORP.
The truck manufacturer received a $39 million grant from the federal government to develop and build all-electric delivery vehicles in Wakarusa. The company announced plans to build 400 of the vehicles in 2010. It also expected the project to create up to 700 new jobs at both Navistar and its suppliers. To date, production has not started.
January 6, 2010 by RV Business
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