Holiday lighting company expands to South Whitley
SOUTH WHITLEY, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — An Illinois-based professional holiday lighting company has announced plans to grow in Whitley County. While financial details were not disclosed, Artistic Holiday Designs says it will expand to the former Shindigz headquarters building in South Whitley and create up to 12 jobs by the end of 2023.
The company says the new location will expand its distribution efforts in the Midwest.
“As our company has experienced significant growth, the need to procure a larger distribution center was a top priority for 2020,” Patrick Becker, Midwest director of operations for Artistic Holiday Designs. “The facility in South Whitley met all of our requirements and is ideal for our nationwide distribution needs. It’s close to the rail yard in Fort Wayne for our imported products and we were excited to find a location within the business-friendly state of Indiana.”
The company says it plans to hire an operations manager for the facility immediately after closing on the building and add four jobs shortly after that. The jobs, which will include warehouse workers, forklift drivers and repair specialists, will have an average hourly wage of $17 per hour.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. has offered Artistic Holiday Designs up to $125,000 in conditional tax credits, which the company will not be eligible to claim until Hoosier workers are hired. The town of South Whitley is also committing up to $7,500 to help with building renovations and new employee training.