I was honored to speak on Thursday, October 29th to welcome Midwest Truck and Auto Parts, Inc. to Merrillville at their ceremonial groundbreaking at the Ameriplex at the Crossroads Business Park at 94th and Georgia Street.
Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb welcomed the father and son team, CEO Mark Chudacoff and his son Michael Chudacoff along with Merrillville Town Council President Rick Bella, Town Manager Pat Reardon, and Crow Holdings Managing Director of the Midwest, Matt Cruise.
“Welcome to the land of Triple AAA ratings and Hoosier hospitality,” said Gov. Holcomb. Rick Bella said that the town often doesn’t get a chance to choose who develops in town… “But if we could, we’d certainly choose a company like the family owned Midwest Truck and Auto Parts,” he said.
This $21.5 million construction project will house Midwest in 125,000 square feet of the total 208,000 building. About 200 construction jobs will be generated over a 12-month period for the project. Once open, Midwest hopes to employ 100 full time positions in a short period of time. They have locations in California, Georgia, Illinois and Texas. It aims to distribute products to customers within 48 hours.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Midwest Truck up to $1.5M in conditional tax credits based on its job creation plans which are performance based. The Merrillville Town Council approved a 10-year tax abatement for the project.
