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November 2008 |
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Company to use abatement to grow |
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Thursday, January 10 2008 |
By TJ HEMLINGER
Staff writer
Local business 80/20 Inc. will spend $2.7 million on manufacturing equipment to expand its capacity and add 10 more jobs to its payroll of 210 employees after receiving a 10-year tax abatement from the County Council Tuesday morning.
“It’s been a great run,” owner and president Don Wood said. “We have exceeded expectations. We’ve been in the (industrial) park 26 years, and we’ll just continue to grow.”
The company, at 1701 S. 400 East, makes aluminum framing systems, with more than 6,000 standard stocked parts serving virtually every industry and application.
Wood estimated that more than one-half of his workforce is from Whitley County.
“Whitley County workers are the backbone of our whole organization,” he said.
This is the second time 80/20 has received a tax abatement in the last two years.
“Our last tax abatement exceeded our employment projections,” Wood said.
He reported that 80/20 experienced an 11 percent increase in sales in 2007. It has had two expansions since it moved to Whitley County and currently occupies 138,000 square feet.
The company will be adding a third shift yet this month.
Its sales are diversified throughout the industry, Wood said. “Our largest customer does not make up 1 percent of our sales,” he said. “We have 13,500 customers and have sold to 45,000 customers.”
80/20 started as an incubator industry in Fort Wayne and expanded to Whitley County. Wood said they started with three vans and currently have 110 vans on the road delivering product.
“We ship worldwide,” he said, “including to Australia and Europe.” |
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Last Updated ( Friday, January 11 2008 )
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 |  |  |  |  | | My Mom (Elly Crawford) would always make this Cranberry
Salad, to die for. The year she passed away I had tried my mother-in-laws and others
but never the same as my Mom's. A year had went by and I had Looked and Looked for
her recipe in her old fashion Tin recipe box. Could not find it. I thought, wow was
this like her Famous Potato Salad, In her head and never wrote down. Silly I know
But as I searched thru her tin recipe box again, I made sure I put each hand wrote
card back where she had kept it. I wanted to make sure it was Just like my mom had
always had it and left it. I kept look one at a time, And low and behold stuck
between two cards was the recipe, I sat and held it as the tears ran down my face. I
had found it and was finally going to have Mom's Cranberry Salad. I called My Dad,
Cecil and said over 20 times, " Dad I found it Dad I found it!" I then prayed and
ask Mom, OK come on help me make this just like you did. And I guess Mom heard
me cause the 2nd and 3rd Thanksgiving without my Mom I had "Mom's Cranberry
Salad" and I will again this year and years to come. Thanks Mom I love you- Sheryl
xoxo P.S. You ask? Well share this recipe.... Umm, I
think NOT, Took me to long to find it. - Sheryl Hackett (Churubusco, IN) My late grandmother, Margarette Ruthsatz always made
scalloped oysters for the holidays. The recipe would be similar to scalloped corn
but instead of corn,oysters.We always hoped for left-overs and often would sneak it
cold from the fridge! Someone brings this dish every year. - Pam Sorg (Columbia City, IN) I love Thanksgiving. All my family get together at my mom and
dad's. My daughters and I usually go early to help Mom get the dinner ready, but she
does most of it. We eat about one and are all stuffed. After clean up we wait for
the paper so my sister and I can scope out all the sales for the next day which we
call Jackie and Laura's Big Adventure. It is the one day that we just spend time
together and are amused with all the shoppers going crazy for that perfect Christmas
gift. - Jackie White (Columbia City, IN) My mother-in-law, the late Mildred Weeks, gave me this recipe
and it is the only salad I fix for Thanksgiving and I am willing to share.
CRANBERRY SALAD1 lb package cranberry's (I freeze them and
then grind them)2 medium size oranges1 cup sugar1 package red
jello2 red apples diced small1 cup chopped nuts1 cup celery diced
smallGrind cranberry's and oranges;add sugar (let set overnight) okay if not.
Add apples, celery, jello and nuts.
- Rowena Weeks (Ridgecrest, California)
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