(BLOOMINGTON) – Longtime local employer TASUS has announced plans to renovate its 30-year old manufacturing plant in Bloomington, home to the company’s North American headquarters.
Founded in Bloomington in 1986, the automotive parts supplier plans to invest in the refurbishment and upgrade of its Bloomington production facility in response to increased demand for its products.
A supplier of plastic molded components, decals and nameplates, and distributed products to the global automotive market, TASUS is part of the Japan-based Tsuchiya Group. TASUS operates its North American headquarters in Bloomington and employs 180 people at its production facility at 300 N. Daniels Way, as well as over 40 employees at their headquarters presently located on W. 2nd Street, with additional manufacturing facilities in Georgetown, Texas; Florence, Ala.; and Hamilton, Ont.
“TASUS has been an outstanding local corporate citizen for decades,” said Mayor John Hamilton. “We appreciate the benefits their presence has conveyed to our community over the years, and look forward to working with them as partners in years to come.”
Focusing its resources on the current renovation of its existing plant, TASUS has opted to postpone for at least a year the building of a proposed corporate headquarters and design and development facility on a site in the Trades District, the city’s new high-tech employment hub. The City of Bloomington Redevelopment Commission (RDC) received this notice from TASUS at the conclusion of a 120-day due diligence period reviewing the Trades District property purchase option.
“The demand for our products continues to grow, even as the automotive market levels out over the next few years,” said Melanie Walker, CEO and President of Tsuchiya Group North America and TASUS Corporation. “This growth in business is a testimony to the quality, service and innovation that our over 500 employees in North America supply to our customers. We are finding it necessary to renovate the oldest and busiest of our manufacturing plants, here in Bloomington, to improve space utilization and efficiency to meet that demand. The disappointment is that, with the investment and focus on this renovation, we find it necessary to delay our plans to build our Design and Development Center and Headquarters in the Trades District. And while we still hope for this in the future, it did not seem the right decision to hold onto valuable land that might benefit another employer and creator of jobs in the Trades District, and thereby benefiting our City.”
A 12-acre site just north of Bloomington’s downtown that was originally part of the Showers Brothers Furniture Company complex, the Trades District is the city’s newest hub for the high-tech/innovation sector. The district is anchored by The Mill, a historic factory building adapted for reuse as a coworking space and business incubator, which opened in the fall of 2018. Located within a tax-advantaged federal Opportunity Zone, the district offers new infrastructure — including roads, pedestrian-friendly amenities, and a garage (approved and currently in the design phase) — along with several improved and unimproved lots available for development.
