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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Partnership Plans $80 Million Electric Truck Project in Indiana

05/15/2009
Electric Motors Corporation (EMC), a manufacturer of electric power drive systems, and Gulf Stream Coach, a manufacturer of recreational vehicles (RVs), will form a partnership and invest more than $80 million to locate an electric vehicle production facility in Wakarusa and Nappanee, Indiana, according to the Indiana governor's office. The companies plan to make the first light-duty electric pickup truck, and expect to create 1,600 jobs at the facility by 2012. "We appreciate the efforts of our state and local officials to get employment restarted here in our community," says Brian Shea, president of Gulf Stream Coach. "This is an excellent opportunity to bring in new technologies to provide for future growth. We look forward to working with Wil Cashen and EMC on the hybrid electrification of light-duty pickup trucks." This area of Indiana, once known as the RV capital of the world, has been hit hard by the recession, largely due to layoffs in the RV industry; unemployment in the region, which includes the cities of Elkhart and Goshen, is nearly 19 percent, one of the highest rates in the nation. The state has offered EMC up to $4.6 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $200,000 in training grants contingent on job creation; Gulf Stream Coach has been offered up to $9.7 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $260,000 in training grants contingent on job creation; the partnership will also receive local tax assitance and a grant for infrastructure improvements.

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