Sen. Todd Young Attends New Paris Ribbon Cutting
By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews
NEW PARIS — U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-IN) paid a visit to Smoker Craft Inc. on Monday afternoon to help celebrate the official grand opening and ribbon cutting of the New Paris boat manufacturer’s new multi-purpose building.
The ceremony had originally been scheduled to take place Aug. 5, but was postponed nearly two months in deference to the death of U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, who was killed in an auto accident on Aug. 3. Walorski had been scheduled to attend the originally scheduled event.
“Whenever I think of this building from now on, Jackie will come to my mind,” said Doug Smoker, president and CEO of Smoker Craft. “Jackie was a champion for the boat business in Washington. We grew to know her over the years. She was a wonderful person. She was someone who lit up a room and was just an amazing help to us throughout the years.”
Young also addressed the assembled crowd of Smoker Craft employees and other local dignitaries.
“We live in the most manufacturing intensive part of the most manufacturing intensive state in the nation,” said Young. “I’m proud of that. … Simply put we know how to make things right here in this part of the state of Indiana. The ability to make things has provided good jobs to not just you and your families, but to so many thousands of others across northern Indiana. … We’re here to celebrate one of the commercial successes that will enable more people to make more great products for Americans and for others to enjoy.”
Also speaking to the assemblage were Elkhart County Commissioner Suzie Weirick and Steven Clark, general manager for R. Yoder Construction, the Nappanee-based company that built the new facility.
According to a fact sheet provided by Smoker Craft, the building will be used for warehousing, light manufacturing, rigging and staging for transportation and some of the business’s corporate offices. The length of the building is 1,000 feet with a height of more than 30 feet.. It utilized 680 tons of steel and 511,565 square feet of concrete in its construction.