On January 7th, MetalX, LLC, a Waterloo, Indiana-based scrap metal recycling company, announced plans to locate a new facility in DeKalb County, Indiana, creating up to 80 new jobs by 2017.
MetalX says they plan to invest $12.4 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 240,000 square-foot industrial facility in the City of Auburn, Indiana. Located on a 30-acre site with main line rail access, the company expects to commission its first line in April, with plans to have the plant fully operational by September, 2014.
The company says the new facility will allow for the development of a consolidated nonferrous metal recycling and reclamation operation that will be capable of recycling more than 100 million pounds of nonferrous metals per year, half of which will be reclaimed from material streams previously going to landfills.
“We are pleased to confirm that we will locate our newest operation in Indiana, and in particular, in the city of Auburn,” said Danny Rifkin, president and CEO of MetalX.
“We recognize the effort that has been required on the part of the mayor and city council, the DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership and the IEDC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation) to work together with us on this project, and are proud to continue expanding in our home state. Job creation is the foundation for a sound domestic economy, and we appreciate the assistance to help facilitate new Indiana jobs.”
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered MetalX, LLC up to $725,000 in conditional tax credits and up to $40,000 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. The city of Auburn also approved additional incentives at the request of the DeKalb County Economic Development Partnership.
“We’re very pleased that MetalX has chosen to locate its new recycling facility here in Auburn,” said Auburn Mayor Norm Yoder. “It occupies a vacant industrial building, bringing the facility to life to create many new jobs for our community.”
Indiana led the U.S. in its percentage of private sector job growth in November, 2013, coming in second in the race to add the highest number of total jobs that month. That growth, which includes 25,300 new “Hoosier” jobs, is the largest one month increase in Indiana on record.
“Indiana’s economy continues to operate with homegrown-Hoosier companies as our foundation,” said Governor Mike Pence. “They are responsible for significant job creation and are key to helping bolster the growth of our state. With our low taxes, best-in-the-nation workforce and central location, the Hoosier State has developed an ideal business climate, allowing companies like MetalX to stay close to home and making Indiana a state that works.”
With family roots in scrap metal dating back to 1943, MetalX is a full-service scrap metal recycling company that processes and distributes all grades of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap metals. MetalX was founded by Danny and Neal Rifkin, third and fourth generation members of the Rifkin family, which had owned and managed OmniSource Corporation until it became part of Steel Dynamics in 2007. The company opened its first facility on a 70-acre site in Waterloo and has grown from 12 employees to more than 100 in just over a year.
Headquartered in Waterloo, Indiana, MetalX now operates metal recycling and scrap processing facilities in Waterloo, Fort Wayne, and Auburn, Indiana, as well as a joint-venture in Birmingham, Alabama. The company buys scrap from industrial generators, wholesale suppliers and the general public, then as a processor, transforms various types of scrap into a form that can be used as a key raw material in the production of secondary products like steel, aluminum and copper wire and tubing, which then serve as the base materials for new metal products and components. In addition, the company offers customized consulting and management services to industrial scrap generators throughout the U.S.
