Council to Act on Items to Bring Industry to Oelwein

The Oelwein City Council will meet tonight, to take another step toward bringing several hundred new jobs to the community. Several items are on the agenda, concerning the construction of a new plant for East Penn Manufacturing Company.

The Pennsylvania company will be bringing 350 new jobs to the northeast Iowa community.

One of the items the Oelwein council will consider, is the authorization of the execution of a RISE funding agreement with the Iowa DOT for the 14th street extension project, in the city's industrial park.

The Council will also consider a motion to advance $75,000 earnest money for the purchase of real estate, pursuant to the development agreement with East Penn Manufacturing, which took place last week (Nov. 17th).

East Penn Manufacturing Co., of Lyon Station, Pennsylvania, plans to begin construction next spring on a nearly 219,000-square-foot plant in Oelwein and finish it by the summer of 2018.

The company plans to invest more than $64 million on the plant. The Iowa Economic Development Authority has authorized East Penn to receive more than $3 million in tax credits, plus $1.75 million in direct financial assistance.

Officials say the facility will "fill, form, finish" and distribute automotive batteries in support of East Penn's battery division.

The company already employs 83 workers at a distribution center in Oelwein and has another Iowa plant in Corydon.

(Associated Press has contributed to this story)