Coachmen expansion could create 234 jobs-WEB ONLY

Elkhart-based Coachmen Industries Inc., no longer part of the slumping recreational vehicle industry, could start hiring soon as part of a $3.5 million expansion that it expects to create more than 200 jobs in northern Indiana.

The Elkhart County Council has approved $135,661 in local property-tax abatements over 10 years on the company’s promise to create 234 jobs over three years.

Coachmen CEO Rich Lavers said the company is moving ahead with its plans and could start hiring new workers next month.

“We’re not standing still,” Lavers said Saturday. “We’re moving forward.”

The $3.5 million investment in Coachmen’s plant near Middlebury will pay for new machines and other equipment needed to produce specialized buses, high-tech cabinetry and a new line of specialty vehicles.

Coachmen late last year sold its struggling recreational vehicle group in northern Indiana to Forest River Inc., a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Lavers at the time said Coachmen would concentrate on its line of manufactured housing.

Saturday’s action by the council paves the way for up to $3.15 million in state tax credits and training grants for Coachmen.

Coachmen remains liable for $91,088 in tax payments over the 10 years. If it doesn’t comply with terms of the property-tax abatement, it could be required to pay some of the abated taxes.

The Elkhart County council granted Jami, a manufacturer of office chairs, a partial tax break earlier this year in connection with its expansion plans. On both occasions, officials cited some of the state’s highest unemployment as a key factor in awarding the tax breaks. Elkhart County’s jobless rate was 17.8 percent in April, down from 18.8 percent in March.