Traffic Control Specialists was honored Thursday with the Starke County Economic Development Foundation’s first Industry of the Year Award. Foundation Executive Director Lisa Dan presented the award during the annual Prospectus and Achievement Luncheon.
“The Triska family founded Traffic Control Specialists in 2007 in the garage and spare bedroom of their Knox home,” Dan said. “Initially, the company did traffic control for small projects and rented a corner of a warehouse to store equipment. They soon outgrew that 2,000-square foot facility and moved into part of a rented building in the Knox Industrial Park to double their space.” After several more expansions, the company now has 223 employees at three sites in Indiana.
Meanwhile, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation’s annual Robert E. Hamilton Award went to Diane Thalmann, who spent 15 years on its board of directors. “When I came to Starke County, I kind of thought, ‘Gee, what am I going to do in Starke County?’ And I found out that Starke County and all of you folks are just really special. There’s a lot of great things going on here. I’ve met a lot of fantastic people and have enjoyed my 20 or so years working with everybody,” Thalmann said.
She was NIPSCO’s manager of economic development for 22 years, before retiring in 2020.
