Warsaw, Ind.-based Zimmer Biomet, the largest employer in Kosciusko County, is threatening to exit the region if the state does not modernize a 155-mile stretch of nearby highway, according to a July 18 report from Inside Indiana Business.
"We want to be in Warsaw, Indiana, for the next 100 years, but we cannot make the commitment to be here long term if we don’t resolve this," Zimmer CEO Ivan Tornos, said during the U.S. 30 Summit, an event held to discuss the safety and economic implications of not modernizing a stretch of U.S. 30 between Fort Wayne and Valparaiso, Ind.
Advocacy groups have been pushing the state to modernize U.S. 30 since 2013. Additional business leaders joined Mr. Tornos, threatening to pull out of the state if it does not provide access for better transportation.
Chris Graham, vice president of Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics, said that his company recently passed Indiana over for additional investment and expansion because of the road infrastructure.
"Our businesses have a supply chain extending throughout Indiana into Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and U.S. 30 is critical to the success of our supply chain," Bill Konyha, president of the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana, told Inside. "It is critical even for agriculture. It’s critical for our workforce, and it’s essential to the delivery system."
Northeast Indiana employs almost 400,000 people in the manufacturing industry, generating $8.5 billion in wages and over $260 million in state income taxes each year. Studies have shown that improving U.S. 30 would reduce accidents by 323 per year and save 18,000 hours of delay per day, according to the report.
"U.S. 30 is the main conduit our employees travel daily," Mr. Tornos told Inside. "We put their lives at risk. We’ve got to get this resolved."