Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly recently reported the following exciting manufacturing news from Noble County.
Nick Busche is moving from high-precision CNC tooling to high-tech battery manufacturing — and it means jobs for Noble County.
The Noble County Council on Oct. 2 approved a 10-year tax abatement for Terra Supreme Battery, a company co-founded by Busche and Benny E. Jay of Texas, that is projected to create 65 jobs by next fall.
The abatement approved Oct. 2 will be for $22.6 million in equipment to get the manufacturing operation moving.
The abatement paperwork listed a total payroll of $4.5 million, for an average wage of just more than $70,000.
Located at the former Busche Performance Group headquarters area at the intersection of S.R. 8 and C.R. 150E, Terra Supreme Battery will be manufacturing Group 31 batteries targeted to trucking, marine, recreational vehicles and other specialty energy storage markets — including high-capacity electricity storage for solar, wind and geothermal power.
Battery Council International, the leading trade association for the industry in North America, gives Group number designations for certain types of batteries. Group 31 are more heavy duty than what are found in most passenger cars.
Bringing new jobs to the area was good news.
“We appreciate your investment in Noble County,” County Councilman Max Franklin said.
“That’s a great thing,” Albion Town Manager Jacob Ihrie said Oct. 3. “Albion will benefit from it.”
According to the Battery Council International, total sales of Group 31 batteries was 25 million units in 2022. Domestic production is in the area of 18 million units annually, creating a gap between supply and demand that Terra Supreme Battery is aiming to fill.
Terra Supreme Battery will be using cutting edge bipolar absorbed glass mat battery technology.
Compared with traditional lead-acid batteries, the composite bipolar models to be manufactured in Albion will contain 40% less lead and are 25%-50% lighter, according to company literature.
Terra Supreme Battery’s units will be sold for approximately twice the cost of traditional batteries but with 10 times the cycle life, the company said.
The company’s batteries will be 96% recyclable.
A majority of the components will be manufactured in Indiana.
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