New plant coming to Adams
ADAMS TWP — A German company recently chose southern Butler County over places in India and China to build a $3.5 million production plant that will eventually employ more than 20 high-skilled workers.
IMS Systems, headquartered in Heiligenhaus, Germany, specializes in manufacturing gauges and measurement systems used in the steel, aluminum and metal industries.
The company makes products that measure the length, width and thickness of steel and other metals. The company already has an office in Adams Township that employs 15 people.
The new facility — 9,500 square feet along Myoma Road — will produce the company's first gauges outside of Germany. It will be adjacent to the existing site.
John Buckman, general manager and vice president of the company's office in Adams, said he's thrilled at the opportunity to bring new jobs to the area.
Buckman said he was shocked last year when, after attending a company board meeting in Germany, the directors chose Butler County for its latest expansion.
“It boiled down to expansion in Shanghai, China; Calcutta, India, or Mars, Pa.,” Buckman said. “And we campaigned very hard in our office and actually convinced them it was the right thing to do.”
Buckman said “a lot of things sounded right” when the idea of building a plant here was brought up. There's a wealth of skilled labor in the area, he said, and the company has the support of local government. The power of the U.S. dollar in the world economy also was a deciding factor in building the plant here.
The general manager also described the new positions as “high-tech, high paying” with outstanding benefits packages.
Groundbreaking is set for noon Thursday. U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-4th, and German government official Peter Beyer, will be among those attending.
IMS Systems employs more than 350 people on five continents, according to its website.
