Manufacturer expanding to DeKalb County

WATERLOO, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — A South Carolina-based metal panel manufacturer has selected a site in northeast Indiana for its first Midwest operation. TrueCore plans to invest more than $28.5 million to build a 175,000-square-foot facility in Waterloo and create up to 75 jobs by the end of 2023.

The company says its insulated panels are used as exterior walls, interior partitions and ceilings in the cold storage, food processing and general construction markets. 

The Indiana Economic Development Corp. says the new manufacturing facility will house two continuous production lines that will produce foamed-in-place urethane wall, ceiling and roof panels, as well as mineral wool panels.

“We have been really impressed by the town of Waterloo, the state of Indiana as well as contractor partners like Felderman Design-Build who have all enabled us to fast track the development of our second facility,” said Dean Soll, co-founder of TrueCore. “We look forward to growing our team and our business here in Indiana.”

Construction on the new TrueCore facility is underway and is expected to be complete by December. The company plans to be at full production capacity by May 2021.

TrueCore is a subsidiary of North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE), which has six facilities in Indiana, including one in Waterloo.

“Waterloo Town Council granted TrueCore a tax abatement on real estate investments of $15.5 million and personal property investments of $12.9 million over a ten year period,” said Waterloo Town Manager Pam Howard. “We extend a huge welcome to TrueCore, and we are excited that they will be joining the Nucor campus bringing high-quality panels and good-paying jobs for many years to come in northeast Indiana.”

The IEDC has also offered TrueCore up to nearly $1.2 million in conditional tax credits and up to $85,000 in conditional training grants, which the company will not be eligible to claim until Hoosier workers are hired for the new jobs.