Area Development
Multi-industry manufacturer Toyota Tsusho Corporation of Japan will form a joint venture with two partners in a US$14.2 million investment to build an automobile parts factory in Franklin, Indiana, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The company will join with its American subsidiary, Kentucky-headquartered Toyota Tsusho America Inc., and Japan-based Sanyo Kaka Company to create Premium Composite Technology North America, a parts supplier that will produce engine covers, intake manifolds, rearview mirrors, and brake lights for Toyota, Nissan, and American automakers. The Journal says Premium Composite plans to initially employ 37 workers at approximately $20 per hour. Construction on the new 64,000-square-foot plant, which will be located within a city tax-increment financing district, is expected to begin in June, with full operations starting in the spring of 2010.