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With Dalton Corp. announcing at the end of 2025 it was closing its doors in early 2026, the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission discussed it briefly Monday at their first meeting of the year.
Commission President George Clemens asked, “Now that the Dalton news is broke, do you get a lot of calls about that?”
Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose replied, “No, I have not. I was notified by Daltons but I have not received any calls.”
Clemens said they have to notify the state because of the loss of jobs. “So everybody’s aware of it. I’m just surprised there’s no” reaching out.
Dalton Corp.’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) is listed on the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s website, with a notice date of Dec. 29, 2025.
According to a letter from First Brands Group, owner of Dalton Corp., to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the Warsaw facility at 1900 E. Jefferson St., Warsaw, will be permanently closing. The company expects 262 total employees will be affected by the closure. The company expects the closure will begin Feb. 27 and 257 employees will be terminated on that day. The facility’s closure will be complete by March 1, but five employees will be retained past that date to assist with matters related to the closure. One such employee will be let go March 31, and a termination date for the final four do not have a set termination date, the letter states.
A copy of the letter can be found online at https://www.in.gov/dwd/files/warnnotices/Dalton-Corporation-WARN-Notice.pdf
Warsaw Community Economic and Development Director Jeremy Skinner told the Redevelopment Commission, “I think First Brands is in bankruptcy, so I’m not surprised they shut down the operations. I don’t know, I haven’t paid much attention to some of their other companies so I don’t know how many other companies they shut down that they own. Obviously, the fact that they’re in bankruptcy, this may well not be the only company that they own that will be shut down. We’ll have to wait and see what comes out of it.”
Earlier in the meeting, the commission voted to retain the same officers for 2026 as they were for 2025.
After taking their annual oaths of office from Grose, the commission chose Clemens again for their president, Councilman Mike Klondaris for vice president and Bill Curl for secretary.
The two other voting members of the commission are Council President Jack Wilhite and former Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer. Brad Johnson, who was absent from Monday’s meeting, is a non-voting Warsaw School Board representative to the commission.
January claims approved by the commission Monday included $6,813.50 from A & Z Engineering for work on CRs 300N and 200W; $18,850 from GAI Consultants Inc. for County Farm Road work; $300 from Four Aces Lawn Care for mowing of city-owned lots on Buffalo Street; $25,000 for the revolving fund loan to OrthoLazer LLC; and $161,993.21 for a pay application from Phend & Brown Inc. for CR 300N roadway improvements.
The next meeting of the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission is 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 19.
