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Jasper-based Kimball Electronics is planning to open a 307,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on South Post Road in Indianapolis that will focus on contract manufacturing for the medical industry.
The new facility is expected to create 345 jobs in its first six years in operation.
Kimball announced it was planning a new Indianapolis facility this month in its quarterly earnings release, without providing more information about the project.
However, the company presented details about a planned Indianapolis expansion to the City-County Council’s Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee last week. The panel recommended approval of Kimball’s application for a personal-property tax abatement at the site.
Work on the planned new Kimball facility, at 1220 South Post Road, is expected to start in June with production slated to begin in March 2026, according to May 12 meeting minutes from the Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee.
Kimball plans to occupy 307,000 square feet in the 584,820-square-foot Commerce Center Building 1, which was constructed in 2023.
According to a presentation from Kimball, the company plans to add 345 jobs with average wages of $29 an hour at the new facility over six years while retaining 165 jobs at current Indianapolis operations.
The company said it will sign a 10-year lease for the facility and plans investments of $22.4 million in buildout and $34.1 million for new equipment.
Kimball will save about $1.3 million in personal-property taxes over the six-year abatement period while paying about $631,800 over that time. The company is likely to pay more than $293,000 in annual personal-property taxes after the abatement period.
In its presentation to the City-County Council committee, Kimball said the facility will be designed for advanced medical manufacturing and new advanced manufacturing equipment. Kimball said its current Indianapolis locations total about 140,000 square feet.
“We will have more than enough floor space in the new facility for future growth with new and existing customers, including the transfer work,” Kimball Electronics CEO Ric Phillips said this month during its earnings call with analysts. “It gives us, first of all, a lot more space, frankly, to expand and grow in the medical CMO (contract manufacturing organization) compared to what we have currently in Indianapolis.”
Phillips said the new facility will expand the company’s capabilities.
“It also is a brand-new facility,” he said. “It has different characteristics in terms of ceiling heights and layout and clean-room capability that we’re going to build that just is a game-changer for us in terms of playing there.”
Phillips said Kimball plans to transfer existing programs in Indianapolis to the new building over time and eventually sell its current buildings.
He said the new facility would include operations such as precision- injected molded plastics, complete device assembly and cold-chain management, which support the production of medical disposables, surgical instruments and drug-delivery devices such as auto injectors.
According to its website, Kimball Electronics operates two buildings across the street from each other on the east side of Indianapolis, at 2950 N. Catherwood Ave., and 6205 E. 30th St.
Kimball was founded in 1961, originally to make electronics for Kimball organs, but began offering contract manufacturing services in the late 1960s. It expanded its medical contract manufacturing operations in 2016 with the $8.3 million acquisition of Indianapolis-based Medivative Technologies LLC.
Shares in Kimball closed at $18.53 each Tuesday, up 27% over the past month.
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