Helmer Inc., a company based in Noblesville since 1987, will become the first company to locate its headquarters in a life sciences complex at the Noblesville Corporate Campus. It also plans to add 65 employees in the next three years.
Company and city officials hailed the move as a major accomplishment and said it will encourage other companies to locate in the Noblesville Corporate Campus, a 3,600-acre development on the city's southeast side.
Helmer plans to begin construction later this year on a 73,000- square-foot research and advanced manufacturing facility at a development with the Noblesville Corporate Campus. Helmer Inc. will be located on Bergen Boulevard in the Saxony Corporate Campus development just north of the I- 69 and State Road 234 interchange.
David Helmer, the company's owner, said his firm will move to a five-acre site and has an option on another five-acre site for possible expansion by 2008. Helmer said the company does research, manufacturing and marketing, all from Noblesville, and will continue to do so in its new location. "This will be our one and only headquarters and location," Helmer said, adding that the current location won't support the firm's planned growth.
The company, which began in 1977 in his home and grew into a building in Fort Wayne before moving here, has expanded twice at its present location, 15425 Herriman Blvd. It now leases space across from its building and will probably need additional temporary space before moving, he said.
The firm, which now employs 98 people in Indiana and about 110 worldwide, develops and manufactures refrigerators, freezers and incubators used in the biomedical industry. The company's refrigeration products are commonly used in blood banks and blood centers, Helmer said. It has customers in more than 100 countries on six continents,
Helmer said, and is hopeful of expanding its business to help rebuild Iraq's medical infrastructure. David Helmer Photo by Robert Herrington | Kenny Myers does a final inspection on an ib-245, known as a blood bank refrigerator, on Thursday afternoon. Myers has worked for Helmer's for three years. Helmer said the firm's primary reason for staying in Noblesville is its employees. "We are really committed to the people who work for us," he said." He said the city of Noblesville also made commitments to the firm to keep it here.
The firm will receive about $375,000 in economic incentives from Noblesville, including tax abatements on its building and equipment, said Chris Hamm, the city's director of development. The Indiana Development Corp. is also providing incentives, including training grants. The Noblesville Corporate Campus is a master planned development between State Road 37 and I-69 that is pre-zoned for a mix of uses. More than 20 million square feet of industrial, 6 million square feet of office and 3 million square feet of service/retail uses are anticipated in the area. More than $60 million is being spent developing roads, utilities and broadband services to the Noblesville Corporate Campus. About $12 million has been spent developing streets and services in the area where Helmer Inc. is moving, the Saxony Corporate Campus. That's a public private partnership between the city and Republic Developers of Ohio, said Hamm. David Helmer said the vision for the Saxony Corporate Campus is another factor that helped him decide to move there. He likes the idea of being part of a modern technology park.
The city is aggressively marketing the Corporate Campus as a life sciences hub because it is located on the interstate and has access to a skilled work force. Developments there are pre-approved for tax abatement and a streamlined development process. "Helmer is exactly the type of user we are trying to attract to Noblesville and the Noblesville Corporate Campus," said Mayor John Ditslear. He said the firm has been a good corporate citizen. In October 2004, Helmer Inc. received the Growth 100 Award from The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation. The award honored 88 high-potential entrepreneurial Indiana companies which have experienced rapid growth and more than $500,000 in annual sales. It was the fourth consecutive year the company received the award from The Johnson Center, a division of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. Helmer Inc. will be located in a 750-acre part of the Noblesville Corporate Campus called Saxony Corporate Campus. That is a $500 million project by Republic Development of Ohio, which already includes the 70,000-square-foot world headquarters for the Wesleyan Church Foundation and a 50,000- square-foot primary and specialty care medical facility that is the first part of a planned 25-acre medical campus for the Community Health Network. Besides commercial uses, the Saxony Corporate Campus also includes plans for a housing development on the south side of the interstate in Fishers. "We are delighted Helmer has selected Saxony Corporate Campus for its new world headquarters," said Rick Arnos, president of Republic Development. He said the company's decision shows the desirability of the location along I-69 for advanced manufacturing facilities.
