For about a decade the former Pfizer 606 building in the Vigo County Industrial Park has been vacant.
“The building has sat unheated and not cooled for that period of time. There’s been some vandalism,” said Steve Witt, president of Vigo County Economic Development Corp.
Although the issue, Witt says the building has potential.
“It’s a building we like to say ‘has good bones’. It has great potential but right now it needs some TLC,” Witt said.
John Young, a Terre Haute native and now president of AIS Gauging, a local web measurement technology company, says over the years his business has seen a lot of growth.
It’s enough growth that it has caused AIS to search for a new facility.
“Our facility right now is 5,000 square feet. Obviously, we are kind of tapped out,” Young said.
Instead of building a new facility, Young was able to purchase the 606 Pfizer building for just one dollar following a vote from Vigo County’s Redevelopment Commission.
This comes with the expectation that his business will invest over $300,000 dollars in improvements for the property.
“It’s going to really help us facilitate our manufacturing process. We’ll be able to get systems out a lot faster with a lot more coordination,” Young said.
Young says far too often he says seen businesses leave Vigo County and he wants to invest back into his community.
“To be able to find ourselves in a position where we can grow, establish roots deeper into the community, and to be able to hire people within this community to be able to support themselves and their families, to us it really matters,” Young said.
Part of AIS Gauging’s agreement with the county requires the company to create between 20 to 30 full time jobs.
Young hopes to move into their new location in the summer of 2020.
