TOPEKA (KSNT) – A major manufacturing business is investing heavily back into its Topeka facilities and creating new jobs in the community after getting a big funding boost last year.
27 News got in touch with PTMW Inc., a local metal fabrication and assembly facility, about how it is continuing to invest in the Topeka area. PTMW accepted an offer in 2024 for nearly $1.6 million in economic development funds to be disbursed over the next five years from Topeka and Shawnee County’s Joint Economic Development Organization (JEDO).
Morgan Padgett, senior vice president of accounting and IT at PTMW, said the 2024 investment is being put to use this year with the creation of a new building along Highway 24. Work is expected to wrap up on the structure by the end of 2025.
“The new building will be used as additional production space for PTMW,” Padgett said. “Specifically, we will be finishing large enclosures in that building.”
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Padgett said the investment is also being used to acquire new production equipment at the existing PTMW facility in Topeka. She said much of the new equipment will use the latest technologies and include greater automation.
JEDO’s investment into PTMW is also due to create more than 180 new jobs in the local area with salaries ranging from $80,000 to $120,000. Padgett said PTMW has started to fill some of these newly created jobs.
“The new positions will be across all areas of PTMW,” Padgett said. ”Most of them are related to production, including general laborers and skilled trades such as welders and machine operators, but there are also administrative and management level positions planned.”
JEDO reported in 2024 the new investment into PTMW would result in a projected local economic impact of $1.3 billion over the next decade. PTMW is also investing in the Manhattan area with the creation of a new facility near the Little Apple.
PTMW’s facilities can be found in Topeka at 5040 U.S. Highway 24. You can learn more about the company by heading to its website.
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