On April 1, 2015, Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson officially welcomed T&B Tube Company, Inc., President Jack Jones and his team to the city of Gary. T&B Tube is a manufacturer of cut-to-length steel tubing and is relocating here from its South Holland, Illinois operations, creating up to 100 new jobs by 2017.
“The relocation of T&B Tube to Gary is definitely a huge deal for us,” said Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson. “Our focus is on creating jobs for Gary residents, so they can live, work and prosper in their own community. I look forward to building even more partnerships with IEDC, NIPSCO, GEDC and other entities so that we can continue to entice more businesses to move to Gary.”
The company will invest $5.6 million to purchase, renovate and equip a 196,000 square-foot facility at 4000 East 7th Street in Gary, doubling available space from its current Illinois operations. With the recent addition of galvanized tubing to its product line, along with customer reshoring, T&B Tube’s new Indiana facility will provide critical space for improving production efficiency to meet growing demand. Following landscape improvements and renovations to office and production areas beginning this month, the company plans to be running in Gary by the end of the year.
T&B Tube, which currently employs 80 full-time associates, has already begun hiring for production positions. Interested applicants may apply through Sedona Staffing and Davis Staffing.
“We chose Indiana because of its lower taxes, business friendly environment, close proximity to our steel vendors and great infrastructure to move our products,” said Jack Jones, president of T&B Tube. “The Indiana location will make us more competitive against our domestic and international competitors. We will also be able to retain all our associates since the new location is close to our current facility.
Mayor Freeman-Wilson was also joined by Councilwoman Mildred Shannon, who expressed her excitement over the manufacturer coming to her district.
“This is such a great opportunity for us as we work to expand business on the Route 20 corridor,” said Shannon. “When a new business comes to our city and more specifically to my district, I’m like a kindergartner doing a happy dance.”
Founded in 1982, T&B Tube is a second-generation, family-owned business that specializes in manufacturing cut-to-length steel tube for applications including point-of-purchase displays, outdoor products and tube fabricators. With multiple customers reshoring production to the United States, T&B Tube’s sales have seen double digit increases in the last year.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered T&B Tube Company, Inc. up to $950,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Gary will consider additional incentives.
As the home of an affordable business climate, Illinois companies continue to pick Indiana as the new home for their growth plans. T&B Tube’s decision to relocate to Indiana follows news earlier this year that Romeoville, Illinois-based American Stair Corporation is also moving its operations to northwest Indiana, with plans to create up to 180 new Hoosier jobs by 2018.