Italian filter maker Filtrec chooses Delaware County to expand, locate its headquarters

MUNCIE, Ind. — An Italy-based manufacturer of industrial filters has chosen Delaware County for its North American headquarters.

Filtrec, which has had a local presence by keeping inventory in a storage building in Daleville, recently purchased an industrial building just south of Muncie and started operations there in June. The company is moving its inventory of thousands of filters into the former Taurus Tool building on Delaware County Road 400-S near Ind. 67,

Mauro Milani, director of operations for Filtrec United States, said the purchase of the building was completed on June 1.

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Machinery to assemble Filtrec’s filter products will be installed at the new site after 6,000 pieces of inventory are moved there, the release stated. The company’s North American headquarters offices will follow,

“As soon as we complete relocation, we’ll stock 2,000 more filters,” Milani said in the release.

Milani told The Star Press that Filtrec employs nine people now but expects to employ 20 to 30 people by the end of the first quarter of 2023.

The company’s more than 1,000 types of industrial and hydraulic filters are widely used in industry, including manufacturing, excavating, cranes, mining and agriculture.

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The move caps years of efforts to attract Filtrec to Delaware County through work by Brad Bookout, the county economic development director, along with Bill Walters, executive director of East Central Indiana Regional Planning District.

County officials met and hosted Filtrec principals in 2017, a two-day visit locally that resulted in the company’s filters being stored in Daleville for easy distribution throughout the Midwest, the release stated.

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Milani said the economic development officials worked with him along the way, which led to the decision to locate the manufacturing facility in Delaware County.

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed local expansion for the Italian company, Milani said. But Filtrec and the county kept working together, leading to the purchase of the former Taurus Tool property.

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Filtrec will invest more than $1 million in establishing its new headquarters and assembly plant.

Incentives provided included help with a building lease of $2,000 per month for six months, Bookout said. Milani said the economic development group also was assisting with financing acquisition of machinery for an undisclosed amount.

“To be in the heart of the Midwest, not so far from our customer base,” was a big reason, Milani said in the press release.

Commissioners were pleased with the successful bid to bring the business to the county.

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“Having spearheaded the efforts to attract a great company like Filtrec to Delaware County and now seeing their success makes my job as a commissioner worth it every day. I couldn’t be more proud of operations manager Mauro Milani and the entire Modina family (which owns Filtrec) for bringing such an outstanding operation to Delaware County.” county commissioner James King said in the release..

David Penticuff is the local government reporter at the Star Press. Contact him at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Italian filter maker chooses Delaware County to expand, locate HQ