FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) A company with roots going back more than 100 years in Fort Wayne announced Thursday plans to expand and hire more workers.

Valbruna Slater Stainless will invest $28 million at its stainless steel and nickel alloys bars plant located on Taylor Street southwest of downtown. The plant helps supply the defense and aerospace sector according to a news release. The investment will mean the addition of 15 to 20 new full-time jobs.

“This expansion plan is a clear demonstration of our strategic focus on the US market and our renewed belief that this industry will continue offering opportunities for the companies, like Valbruna, that want to invest and remain fully committed for the long haul.” Said Massimo Amenduni, President of Valbruna Slater. “We have continuously grown and created jobs in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for more than twenty years and we definitely maintain a positive outlook for the future”.

Valbruna, headquartered in Italy, purchased Slater Steel Corporation in a bankruptcy sale in 2004. Slater had filed bankruptcy a year earlier and had closed the plant.

The history of steel making at that location dates back to the late 1890s and the Fort Wayne Rolling Mill. After the plant went through multiple ownerships and name changes including Joslyn Stainless Steel and later Slater Steel.