Busche Expanding in Avilla

Busche to bring 100 jobs to Avilla

Company to locate in former Federal-Mogul plant

Posted: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 11:00 pm | Updated: 6:20 am, Thu Feb 19, 2015.

By Bob Braley
bbraley@kpcmedia.com

AVILLA — One of Noble County’s largest employers received a tax break Wednesday from the Avilla Town Council to bring 100 new jobs to Avilla.

Busche Enterprise Division Inc. was given tax abatements on $185,000 in improvements to the former Federal-Mogul building in town and on $10 million worth of new equipment, according to the company’s statements of benefits filed for the incentives.

The 100 jobs would have an average salary of $31,845, the documents said.

Avilla Town Manager Bill Ley said the new equipment will largely consist of computer numerical control and related machines.

“For every machine, there’s a minimum of three machining jobs for every shift,” said Don Kawiecki of Busche. The equipment also requires maintenance positions, he said.

The company plans to begin operating the first week of March with about 10 employees at the Avilla location, and to have 100 employees there within about a year, Giran Kunkel of Busche said.

The Avilla Redevelopment Commission voted Tuesday to recommend phasing in property taxes over 10 years on both the real property and the equipment. The Town Council unanimously voted to do so Wednesday.

Busche is looking to hire some of the people who lost their jobs when Federal-Mogul closed its Avilla plant, Kunkel said.

Council members thanked Busche for bringing the jobs to Avilla and moving into an existing vacant industrial space.