Alliance Steel of Bedford Park, Ill. finalized its plan Dec. 5 to bring its flat-rolled steel supply and coil processing business to Gary and create up to 130 new jobs by 2023.
Alliance announced in July plans relocate its operations from Illinois to Gary. Information released by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. said the company will purchase and equip a 250,000-square-foot facility at 2700 E. 5th Ave. in Gary at an estimated cost of $19.7 million.
Alliance employs about 100 people. The state said the Gary facility gives the company, which serves the automotive, construction, agriculture, transportation, energy, material handling and appliance industries, room to grow.
Alliance expects to begin renovations early next year and be operating by January 2020. The company said it will increase workforce training and hire drivers and other positions to handle the projected increased business volume.
“Northwest Indiana and Gary are making all the right moves to recreate a very promising industrial area, and Alliance Steel hopes to be one of the cornerstones that provides a track for this new cycle,” said Andy Gross, president and CEO of Alliance Steel, who purchased the company in the late 1990s.
The IEDC 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, the state said. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.
The IEDC also offered up to $900,000 in conditional tax credits from the Industrial Recovery Tax Credit program, which provides an incentive to invest in former industrial sites and improve quality of place in Indiana communities.
The city of Gary also offered additional incentives to the company.
“The decision by Alliance Steel to select the Gary as its new headquarters and production facility is testament to the economic revival occurring in the city,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.
Freeman-Wilson said she welcomed Alliance’s commitment to repurpose an existing industrial building and bring good-paying jobs to Gary and Northwest Indiana.
“Gary is on the shores of opportunity, and we are pleased that Alliance Steel recognizes the assets and benefits of operating here,” she said. “We look forward to many years of partnership and prosperity for Alliance Steel.”
