Five Southwestern Indiana Businesses Awarded Grant Funds

Local Sources- The Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), in partnership with Conexus Indiana, has awarded five Southwestern Indiana businesses with grant funds.

The IEDC and Conexus Indiana, announced the sixth round of awards totaling nearly $4 million in Manufacturing Readiness Grants to 43 Indiana businesses, supporting a projected $46.1 million in technology-enabled capital investment across Indiana.

Launched in 2020, the Manufacturing Readiness Grants program was created to stimulate private sector investments to modernize Indiana’s manufacturing industry. Since then, $17.4 million in grant funding has been awarded to 212 companies in 60 counties, prompting proposed projects with combined budgets of $138.9 million and $22 million in estimated new wages.

The Five Companies are:

• Dewig Bros. Packing Co. Inc. (Gibson County; $50,000 grant award) is a manufacturer of proprietary branded meat products such as cured and smoked bacon, hams and pork loins and sausages such as bratwurst, German bologna and snack sticks. The company is investing in an automated link cutter for its diverse sausage line, which will help the company increase efficiency.

• Indiana Furniture Industries Inc. (Dubois County; $109,121 grant award) is a furniture manufacturer of products for various office environments such as private office settings, open office settings and conference rooms. The company is investing in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for material handling.

• Inotiv Inc. (Posey County; $41,877 grant award) is a contract research organization specializing in nonclinical and analytical drug discovery and development services. The company is investing in digital testing equipment to create a mobile workstation, which will include wireless capabilities, digital radiography, data collection and acquisition, and analytic capabilities.

• Peak Toolworks (Dubois County; $60,763 grant award) is a cutting tool manufacturer for tools and blades that cut through steel, chrome, copper and plastic, including its own patented tool designs. The company is investing in automated equipment for its tool manufacturing processes and robotics for auto-loading thousands of tools.

• Uniseal Inc. (Vanderburgh County; $20,000 grant award) is a manufacturer of sealants and adhesives for the automotive sector. The company is investing in automated equipment to augment its material blending process.

In recently published case studies, Conexus Indiana provides an in-depth look into various completed projects, highlighting business impact and outcomes. These, along with data analysis from applications and surveys, find:

• Rather than displacing workers, investments in technology are freeing workers from tedious tasks to perform higher-value, higher-paying functions.
• Awards support modernization at primarily small and midsized firms (average of 165 employees) with long histories of participation in Indiana’s manufacturing economy (average of 37 years in operation).
• The most adopted technologies include robotics, cobots, 3D printing and next-generation machines with sensor-enable features such as data analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
• 68% of companies report Manufacturing Readiness Grants have enabled or expanded the scope of technology projects, and an additional 26% say the grant accelerated project timelines.