Proximity Puts Steel
Firm at Indy Port

In Jeffersonville, Ind., just across the river from Louisville, Dearborn, Mich.-based Kasle Steel found a site to its liking for Kasle Metal Processing LLC, a new joint venture steel stamping operation with Automatic Feed Co. The $16-million project will initially employ 70-80 when it becomes operational in the first quarter of 2004.

The Cincinnati skyline defines the city in one way, but its riverside roots defined it first.

        "We wanted to be close to our end users and suppliers," says Dennis Balla, Kasle Steel general manager. "It's a great move for us to move south."
        The site search, with the assistance of Greenville, S.C.-based McCallum Sweeney Consulting, was thorough, taking about three years. Balla says Kasle seriously considered five sites near the river in the Indiana-Kentucky region.
        The port's 1-2-3 transportation punch of river barge, rail and major highways was a big plus, he says. An April decision by the Federal Highway Administration to build two Interstate highway bridges – at a cost of $1.9 billion – crossing the river to Louisville was another factor.
        Kasle Metal Processing will cut steel coils into flat shapes ready for stamping at auto plants such as Ford Motor Co.'s Louisville truck plant. Kasle Steel supplies the Big Three automakers as well as several Tier 1 suppliers.

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        Mike O'Connor, director of the Port of Indiana-Jeffersonville, says the port targets steel operations and other heavy manufacturers that can take advantage of the savings of water-borne transportation. The port's industrial mix also includes chemicals, oils, grains and fertilizers.
        "We locate and qualify our industrial candidates," O'Connor explains. "They must have a maritime-related nature to their business, and hopefully that will give them an edge over their competition."
        The port recently purchased enough land to create a new 130-acre (53-hectare) industrial site. That gives the facility a total of 250 acres (101 hectares) available to industry, most of it in lots ranging from five acres (two hectares) to 35 acres (14 hectares).