Mayor Prince, l-r. Gov. Holcomb, Alliance Steel owner Andy Gross, and his son Drew Gross

Alliance Steel will bring 100 good paying jobs to Gary

Contributed By:The 411 News

Gov. Eric Holcomb stopped in Gary Thursday, joining Mayor Jerome Prince for a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating Alliance Steel's new headquarters, moving from its old home in Bedford Park, IL.

"There's no place I'd rather be than in Gary, Indiana right now," Gov. Holcomb said. "It's exciting to see how you had options to relocate but you chose here. We appreciate that and your perseverance in the pandemic. You are offering hope and providing opportunity. We'll continue to be aware of your future needs."

The company's business is steel processing, creating products for the automotive, construction, agriculture, transportation, material handling and appliance industries from steel coils and sheets manufactured in local mills.

Trucks carrying those giant coils and sheets are everyday sights in northwest Indiana as they are destined for steel processing centers like Alliance.

Outgrowing its facilities in Bedford Park, Alliance included Indiana when it began a search four years ago for a new home. The rest is history.

Alliance began production at the facility in February, after a $20 million investment to purchase and equip the 230,000 sq ft plant. Thursday's ribbon cutting highlighted the partnerships local and state governments forged to secure the company's new home at the site of the former ATCO-Gary Metal Technologies, where I-65 meets E. 5th Avenue.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered up to $900,000 in conditional tax credits from the Industrial Recovery Tax Credit (DINO) program, which provides an incentive to invest in former industrial sites.

Another incentive came from NIPSCO said Don Babcock, the utility's economic development director.

NIPSCO shared half of its $3.2 million DINO tax credit for the demolition of the Dean H. Mitchell generating station with Alliance, contributing $1.6 million to help the company make the decision to relocate to Gary.

The IEDC also offered Alliance Steel up to $1.85 million in conditional tax credits and up to $150,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.

Gary offered the company a six-year $1.2 million tax abatement. During the 6 years, Alliance has agreed to a Local Participation Plan requiring the company to hire Gary contractors for improvements to the facility and Gary residents for manufacturing jobs.

Alliance brought to Gary 100 employees from the Bedford Park plant. The company reported average salary for Alliance employees as $31 hourly.

According to the NWI Times, Hoist Liftruck, another Illinois manufacturer that moved to Indiana, was Alliance's landlord in Bedford Park and encouraged the company to look in northwest Indiana. Hoist Liftruck made its new home in East Chicago.

Mayor Prince, who came into office just as production began at the plant, thanked all who contributed to the success of the project. To Alliance Steel, he said, “You chose a hard time to relocate a company. It was a bold move. We are confident in the very near future you will find you chose the right time and right place to enhance your company, and add to the lives of your employees and residents of the city.”

Because of Alliance, Prince said, “We’ll see 100 Gary residents supporting their families, our schools, our local businesses, libraries and good paying jobs.”


Andrew Gross led a tour of the facility

Story Posted:08/24/2020