Edinburgh business to double its workforce, build addition

A tool and die shop in Edinburgh plans to double the size of its facility and workforce over the next three years.

CL Tech, a high-volume machine shop, will spend $4.8 million to build a 6,500-square-foot addition to its Edinburgh facility at 216 N. Main St. That will increase the overall size of the business to about 13,000 square feet by the end of 2015, according to an Indiana Economic Development Corp. news release. The project will include installing computer-controlled lathes, mills, robotics and other machines.

The company, which has 30 full-time workers, expects to add 30 jobs by 2018. CL Tech already has started hiring machinists, equipment operators, forklift drivers and administrators, the news release said.

Company officials said they expect the new space and additional workers will enable CL Tech to increase sales by 35 percent, the news release said.

The town of Edinburgh approved incentives for the company’s expansion. Details on those incentives were not available Friday. The company could qualify for $210,000 in tax credits from the state, depending on the number of people hired. Those credits are performance-based, meaning the company won’t receive them until people are hired, the news release said.

“The addition of these new jobs is great news for our community,” Edinburgh Town Council President Ron Hoffman said in the state news release.

“CL Tech has had a positive impact on Edinburgh, and we are pleased they decided to continue that relationship by choosing to expand their facility.”

The company began in 1978, using robotics and machines to create the materials it sold. As the company grew it became a designer and builder of dies and today serves the automotive, recreational vehicle, aerospace and off-road industries.

“CL Tech is excited to announce the addition of new employees and more space in Edinburgh,” company president James Krohn said in the news release.

“Our location allows us to serve our central U.S. customers very well. We look forward to our continued partnership with the community and state. We appreciate the low cost of doing business, as well as (the) business friendly environment here in Indiana.”