An Indianapolis-based steel fabrication company is setting up its newest branch inside a former precision-manufacturing plant in Hope, Indiana, with power upgrades, a renovated interior roof, new lighting and new equipment already installed. Indiana Steel Fabricating representatives announced the Hope location at a town council meeting on Tuesday, telling local leaders the site at 100 Raymond Street is already about 65% of the way through its phase-one buildout.
The company, which mainly services the construction industry, purchased the 100 Raymond Street building in April, according to The Republic. The property, listed at 32,374 square feet on 6.47 acres, sold for $910,000 that same month, according to @properties Indy. The listing describes a facility zoned Industrial/Light Manufacturing, with north and south steel-beamed covered work yards and four large bay doors — the kind of layout suited to moving heavy structural steel — along with completed pre-sale Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments.
A New Life for a Former Precision-Tooling Plant
Before Indiana Steel Fabricating took over, the Raymond Street building served as the manufacturing headquarters for Rusach International, a maker of precision rotary tables, pallet automation and metrology systems, according to Rusach International. The site's history in precision equipment now gives way to a very different kind of steel work: Indiana Steel Fabricating erects structures at job sites and fabricates large components that owner Mike Jordan has described as giant Lego sets, per the same account from The Republic. The company serves general contractors, developers, small-business owners and utility companies, and its projects have included schools, manufacturing facilities, warehouses, hospitals and commercial construction sites.
Hope marks the company's selection as the first phase of a broader growth plan, and its first expansion since Mike Jordan and Ben Strange became owners. The pair had previously opened a second shop in Lafayette, making Hope the company's second overall expansion. Jordan told local officials the company is very excited about the opportunity, the report notes.
Betting on Local Hires and High School Welders
Strange said the company wants to be fully involved with the Hope community, and Indiana Steel Fabricating has already begun its first round of employee hires in town. The company plans to employ skilled-trade workers from Hope, hiring welders, machine operators, general laborers, forklift operators and truck drivers. It also hopes to involve high school welding students in real-life work experience, a goal that lines up with existing programs at Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School, where students can pursue on-campus welding and agriculture career pathways as well as regional C4 career programs, according to Hauser Jr.-Sr. High School.
Indiana Steel Fabricating is also encouraging community members to tour the facility and learn more about its work as it settles into town. The company is an active member of the Indiana Fabricators Association, a statewide trade group representing structural steel shops across the state. It's also no stranger to large commercial builds: in late 2024, the company completed structural steel fabrication work for a facility expansion by aftermarket diesel manufacturer Fleece Performance Engineering, as shown in a company post on Facebook.
A Fit for Bartholomew County's Manufacturing Base
The company's arrival lands in a county where manufacturing is already the dominant economic force. Bartholomew County counts more than 10,500 manufacturing workers across 155 establishments, accounting for nearly 38% of all local jobs, according to STATS Indiana data cited by The Republic. That concentration mirrors the state's broader standing in the industry — Indiana produces roughly 27% of all U.S. steel and supports more than $12 billion in statewide economic output across mill work and downstream fabrication, according to the office of Congressman Frank Mrvan.
Indiana Steel Fabricating traces back to its original incorporation on July 2, 1959, by a local family, before members of its management team, including current owners Jordan and Strange, acquired the company in late 2012, according to the Better Business Bureau. Council President Ohmer Miller called the employment growth and opportunity for local people exciting, a sentiment shared during the same council session where the expansion was formally discussed alongside other town economic matters, including Economic Development Income Tax allocations. Questions remain about exactly how many local workers the company plans to hire in this first phase and when the remaining share of the phase-one renovations will wrap up.
