Sabre Manufacturing LLC, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation announced plans for the expansion of operations at Sabre in Knox. Development Foundation Director, Charlie Weaver, says that Sabre manufactures temporary environmental equipment known as FRAC and WEIR tanks.
“Wherever you go in this country, you’re likely to see one of the tanks that are manufactured in Starke County, Indiana,” said Weaver. “You will see them on a clean-up site for the environmental agencies or if you go down to the oil fields, you’ll see them there for the FRAC operations and that sort of thing.”
Sabre has been in operation in Starke County since 2005, when it acquired the abandoned General Woodworker plant from the Development Foundation. The sale to Sabre was conditioned upon them employing at least 20 people within 18 months. The company has exceeded that requirement as the company employed 99 people by 2008.
“Every year and every action they’ve taken since that time, the numbers of exceeded what they had committed to us. It’s really neat when you have a company that says, ‘I can promise you X and they do X-plus.'”
The company expanded their facility in 2008 by doubling the capacity of its blast and paint facilities, at a cost of $500,000, and the creation of another 20 jobs. Industrial facilities like this may need to use a steam generator for their manufacturing processes.
This next expansion will result in a Sabre expenditure in excess of $1 million. Sabre acquired existing buildings at the east end of the Sabre site, which is allowing the company to expand at their present Knox location. As a part of the expansion, Sabre has pledged to buy equipment required for faster and more practical production cycles, such as rotary tables and other machinery, while at the same time increase its current employment level of 145 employees up to 170 employees over the next year.
