Glass

A Chicago-based building-enclosure manufacturer that dropped plans to construct a $9.3 million plant in northwest Indiana has instead taken up shop in Indianapolis and already hired 70 workers.

Ekos Window + Wall, a spinoff of Chicago-based Reflection Window + Wall LLC, announced intentions in November 2020 to build a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing and office facility in Valparaiso that would eventually employ more than 110 Hoosiers.

But rising construction costs prompted Ekos to table those plans. Instead, the company decided to spend $10 million to lease and equip a 120,000-square-foot factory at 365 S. Post Road in Indianapolis, where it began operations in October. The site was previously used as an aluminum-extrusion facility.

Ekos said it plans to hire another 30 employees at the plant, which makes glass-curtain wall products used in high-rise buildings.

The company reached an incentives agreement with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. regarding the Valparaiso project that could have eventually resulted in $1.25 million in tax credits and $200,000 in training grants. Ekos said there are no incentives involved at the Indianapolis site.

"The Valpo location never came to fruition because of the skyrocketing steel prices during the pandemic, which made building a manufacturing facility untenable," a spokesman for the company said in an email. "Ekos is glad to be manufacturing in the state of Indiana. We’ve tapped into a skilled labor force that is helping supply building projects throughout the U.S."

Reflection Window + Wall, founded in 2001, specializes in engineering, pre-construction and project management of facade construction. Its work can be seen in several notable Midwest projects, including the 28-story 360 Market Square tower in downtown Indianapolis.

Ekos is now separately owned but continues to supply Reflection with products.

Correction: The original version of this story had an incorrect address.

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