(Newton, Iowa) Newton's getting 350-new jobs over the next two years. The Newton Development Corporation tells WHO-Radio News T-P-I-Composites is behind an expansion, that will make light-weight bus frames.
T-P-I makes wind turbine parts, and plans to lease 100-thousand square feet of the former Maytag Plant Number 2 plant. The space will be used to make light-weight bus components for a company called Proterra, which has factories in South Carolina and California, where the electric buses will be completed.
They plan to hire about hire 100-people in the first wave, then 250-more later.
Frank Liebl of the Newton Development Corporation says the unemployment rate in Newton is about three percent right now, so he expects the company to reach out to try and attract employees.
He says he expects the first wave of hiring to start early next year, with the first bus rolling off the line in some point by the second quarter of 2018, before production ramps up further.
The former Maytag Number 2 plant, is owned by a Milwaukee, Wisconsin company. The former plant has nine tenants leasing the space there.