B & J Specialty expanding

B & J Specialty expanding

By Bob Braley bobb@kpcnews.net

Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 1:00am

ALBION — A Noble County company is adding two jobs in what it plans as the first phase of expansion of its Albion plant, the Albion Town Council learned Tuesday.

The council voted 4-0 to approve a tax abatement for B & J Specialty on $220,780 for new equipment and its installation at the company’s Albion facility. The Albion plant makes fire suppression equipment.

The new equipment will add two jobs at the Albion plant, which will pay an average of $32,000 per year apiece, said B & J owner John Wicker. The Albion plant currently employs 16 people.

This will use up the last of the available space at the facility, Wicker said. He’s planning an expansion after that, hoping to add about 30 to 40 percent to the existing plant space.

Albion town manager Beth Shellman said she had checked with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, and the equipment’s installation can be abated.

The abatement will phase in property taxes on the equipment and its installation over a five-year period, the council said.

B & J employs about 160 employees company wide, and is still family-owned and -operated, Wicker said. He hopes to have the equipment installed no later than November.