By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
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Huddled under a tent in the hot summer sun, a southside electrical, systems and automation contractor kicked off construction of its future headquarters, which will expand its operations and bring 180 workers to Greenwood.
In April, Indianapolis-based ERMCO, Inc. announced plans to build a 205,220-square-foot facility on an 11.5-acre lot at the northwest corner of Main Street and Graham Road.
The plans have changed slightly since then, and the footprint will be smaller. The facility will include 58,228 square feet of office space, and a 101,920-square-foot service center. It will also feature 2,600 square feet of social space, ERMCO officials said.
The company’s headquarters is located on Thompson Road in Indianapolis. It has 105 offices, three meeting spaces and 135 parking spots. The new headquarters in Greenwood will have 155 offices, 14 meeting spaces and more than 200 parking spots, according to the company.
ERMCO plans to invest $18 million, relocate 150 jobs from Indianapolis, and add 30 more employees at the Greenwood headquarters. Average pay will be about $70,000 a year, or $33.65 a hour.
The Greenwood City Council approved more than $1.4 million in real and personal property tax abatements for the company in May. The $1.4 million real property tax break is a standard abatement, in which ERMCO will not pay any property taxes the first year, then an additional 5% to 15% each year for 10 years. The personal property tax abatement will save the company about $13,300 over five years. The company would still pay more than $2 million in property taxes.
Other reasons the company chose Greenwood include its bike trails system, parks and downtown, said Greg Gossett, ERMCO’s president and CEO.
“There’s really great things going on in Greenwood and we’re excited to be bringing the ERMCO family to be a part of that,” Gossett said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony Friday, he told the packed crowd of employees and city officials it was a historic day that would not have been possible without the hard work of ERMCO for the past 60 years. This is the company’s fourth location since its founding in 1962, and will be its first headquarters outside of Indianapolis.
It is an honor to celebrate a local, family business coming to the city, Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers said.
“You’re all a part of Greenwood now and a part of our family,” Myers said. “If there’s anything the city of Greenwood can ever do to help — to make things easier, if you have any questions, whatever — my door is always open.”
The new headquarters is expected to be completed sometime in 2022.
