Celadon planning to add 375 jobs as part of expansion

Indianapolis-based Celadon Group Inc. has been approved for nearly $3 million in state tax incentives for an expansion that the company says will add 375 new jobs by 2024.

Celadon, a trucking and logistics company, is building a $28 million corporate campus in the Mount Comfort area in Hancock County. The company’s operations are currently located on a 40-acre site at East 33rd Street and Mitthoeffer Road in Indianapolis, but that site is landlocked and offers no room for expansion.

IBJ reported on that project in October, but there was no mention of additional jobs or economic incentives when it was announced.

Earlier this month, Celadon signed an incentive agreement with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. that could save the company $2.99 million if it meets hiring and investment goals.

Under the terms of that agreement, Celadon is expected to add 375 jobs to its existing local workforce of 1,121 people by the end of 2024. Information on the average wage for those jobs wasn't publicly disclosed.

The IEDC declined to provide IBJ with information on the type of jobs or their wages, saying that the information should come from Celadon.

Celadon spokesman Joe Weigel said the job numbers are based on the company’s overall expectations for growth in coming years. Over the past five years, Weigel said, Celadon’s annual revenues have roughly doubled. 

The company had revenue of $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2016, which ended June 30. That figure was $568 million in fiscal year 2011.

The IEDC offered Celadon its Indiana's Economic Development for a Growing Economy, or EDGE, tax credit. Companies can claim it only if they meet set goals for creating an agreed-upon number of jobs that pay a certain amount.

Celadon will be eligible to claim the tax credit for the years 2020-2029, after which it will be subject to a two-year reporting period to make sure it’s still in compliance with contract terms.

The IEDC also offfered up to $100,000 in training grants.

As previously reported by IBJ, the Hancock County facility will include an office building, maintenance facility, a dormitory for drivers in training, plus a medical clinic. 

Celadon previously said the project would cost $24 million, but Weigel said that figure rose to $28 million as Celadon worked out the specifics of its original plan.

Founded in 1985, Celadon is one of the 10 largest truckload carriers in North America, with more than 4,000 employees overall.