Company representatives told the Gary City Council they plan to open a truck-body facility on East Fifteenth Avenue and expect 12 to 15 employees at launch, rising to about 35 to 40 once fully up and running.

The details mattered to council members and the presenters, who described how the operation would stock empty truck bodies and assemble orders quickly. “Up and running. I mean, initially, launch will be somewhere 12 to 15,” a company representative said. Later the same presenter said, “Once we get up and running, I anticipate 35 to 40.”

Nut graf: City officials heard how the business model and staffing could affect local jobs and site use. Presenters outlined an inventory and production approach that they said would allow rapid delivery of finished units, a point of interest for council members asking about local employment and operational pace.

Company representatives described a “stock model” for empty truck boxes that they said would let the operation mount truck bodies quickly when a chassis becomes available. “We can mount it and ship it out the door in 10 days,” one presenter said. The presenters said the inventory would usually range between 10 and 20 empty boxes, sometimes dropping to as few as five, and that they would keep either 16-foot or 26-foot boxes in stock.

Presenters also summarized corporate backgrounds for firms involved. One said Wabash has been in business for more than 35 years and has about 5,000 employees nationwide. Another presenter said PACE has been in business for more than 35 years, is corporate out of Byron Center, Michigan, and is part of an umbrella company called HTI; that presenter said PACE employs about 275 people across seven Midwest locations and operates roughly 45 mobile repair trucks. These organizational details were presented as context for the facility’s operational experience and capacity.

Council members asked about staffing levels and business history during a brief question-and-answer exchange. The transcript did not specify an exact opening date or a final lease or permit status for the East Fifteenth Avenue location.

Ending: Presenters emphasized the rapid-assembly and inventory approach as central to the business model and projected it would support a mid-sized local workforce once the facility reached steady state. No formal action or vote on city approvals was recorded in the provided transcript.