Ohio company bringing jobs to Fremont

FREMONT, Ind. (AP) - Ohio-based Koester Metals Inc. plans to open a new manufacturing center that will create up to 60 jobs in northeast Indiana by 2012.

The Defiance, Ohio-based company makes custom-sized electrical enclosures and fabricated sheet metal components. It says it will take over an existing 130,000 square-foot facility formerly occupied by Rittal Inc.

Koester says it will begin hiring manufacturing and supervisory associates for the plant in Fremont, Indiana, just across the Ohio border and about 40 miles northwest of Defiance, later this summer.

An incentive package from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, included up to $185,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $25,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans.