On May 10, Patrick Industries hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new location, Gravure Ink, in La Porte. According to Patrick Industries Senior Vice President of Operations Hugo Gonzalez, this location will help connect Patrick Industries’ location in Bensenville, Ill. to Elkhart, Ind.
“I’m from La Porte, and there were a lot of great people trying to incentivize businesses to come to the area. We felt that he was a good fit because part of our supply is going to go up to the RV industry in Elkhart. Our main facility is in Bensenville Illinois, so it's a good middle point in between.”
Over the past few years, the RV industry has grown, so having a closer connection with Elkhart is even more important now than in previous years.
“The vast majority of our RVs are produced in Elkhart, and we're starting to see expansion on that: the industry grew tremendously during the pandemic,” said La Porte City Council President Tim Franke. “We've got space and we’re neighbors with Elkhart, so we're happy to be nearby and able to assist them.”
In addition to La Porte being a connector to Elkhart, La Porte also offered not only land development options but also brand-new buildings ready to be filled at Thomas Rose Industrial Park. This gave La Porte the competitive edge, ultimately leading Patrick Industries leaders to choose La Porte.
“In every community, everybody's got land for development,” said Bert Cook, executive director of La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership. “The big thing for us is when they built this building, they did what we call a spec build, meaning they didn't have a tenant. That's the differentiating factor. Very few communities have new, quality-built, existing buildings where companies can move right in.”
“We said on day one that we had high expectations to compete with the best and have the best come here,” said La Porte Mayor Tom Dermody. “Having Patrick industries–a global name that everybody knows in the industry–come to La Porte is an example of that. We are very fortunate and honored, and I think more will come.”
Securing the best means increased opportunity for high-paying jobs that equip La Porte for growth, making La Porte a more attractive place to live and work. Patrick Industries will bring roughly 31 of those high-paying jobs to La Porte.
“At the end of the day, good-paying jobs are exactly what we need as a city,” Franke said. “We want to grow where people make a good living wage and are able to live a good life. This provides that. People will move here or come back for jobs that provide a good living wage.”
To learn more about La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, visit https://laportepartnership.com.
