The Starke County Commissioners and Council heard about Lochmandy Ford wanting to build a new dealership in Knox during their meetings Monday.
Owner of Knox’s Lochmandy Ford Dealership, Abbi Lochmandy was present at both the commissioner and council meetings this week to explain the future of Lochmandy Ford in Starke County.
Lochmandy stated the company has purchased land on the south side of Knox across the street from Save A Lot. She went on to say plans have been put together for a 15,700 square foot building on the plot of land and potentially bigger.
Currently, Lochmandy Ford in Knox houses a five bay service department with 14 total employees. Lochmandy went on to say the new building would have 15 service bays and would also need to hire 10 more full time technicians for the service department. She added EV charging stations are also part of the plan. She said citizens who own an electric vehicle will have a place to charge 24/7.
Starke County Economic Development Foundation Executive Director Lisa Dan was also present to discuss this with the commissioners and council members. She asked on behalf of Lochmandy if there is any tax abatement or incentives the county can give a business wanting to upgrade location and hire more employees.
Both the commissioners and the council members took the report under advisement. Lochmandy stated they are under way right now with clearing the plot of land purchased just south of town.
