Schafer Gear Works was recently honored with the Economic Impact Award from the Chamber of Commerce of St. Joseph County, Indiana. Presented at the chamber’s Annual Salute to Business Luncheon, this award recognizes a company’s strategic vision and its sustainable capital investment in the local economy.
In early 2011, Schafer Gear announced a joint venture with Somaschini S.p.A. of Italy to produce engine gears for the heavy-duty truck market in North America. As part of this joint venture, a new 50,000 square-foot plant was built on the Schafer Gear campus on Nimtz Parkway in South Bend. The total joint venture investment was $18 million, including the new manufacturing facility. As a result, 25 jobs will be added by the end of 2012.
Established in 1934, Schafer Gear Works has been under its present ownership since 1988. The gear manufacturer is a diversified supplier to a variety of markets in North America including leisure vehicles, material handling, mining, power transmission, construction, locomotive, aircraft, medical, as well as automotive and heavy-duty truck markets. Schafer Gear Works operates three production facilities. The company’s Rockford, Illinois, plant produces larger gears for heavy applications, the South Bend location produces higher volume gears for a variety of industrial applications, and the Fort Wayne, Indiana, facility concentrates on high-precision fine-pitch gears for aircraft and medical application. Learn more at www.schafergear.com.
