Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Going on two years as the CEO of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), Peggy Simmons is proud of what her team of all women has accomplished so far in that short amount of time.
Now, they get to continue serving the community in a new location at 2194 N. Pointe Drive, Warsaw, having moved from downtown Warsaw.
To celebrate the new location, KEDCO had a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce.
“It was time for us to look at different locations and this one just seemed to fit our team the best,” explained Simmons on the move, in an interview before the ribbon-cutting. “We had a really great run in the one building downtown, and we kind of do miss the co-working space and the additional space, but this just feels like home. We have actual offices and doors and windows and all the things, and no stairs. So we’re just blessed to be able to operate out of this office.”
KEDCO’s team has five full-time and two contracted, and Simmons said they’re all ladies.
“We are the economic development engine of Kosciusko County, so we do everything from business attraction, retention, workforce, housing, entrepreneurship, innovation - all of the things that help make the community grow. We are very targeted though on what projects we take on because we want to make sure that they’re a really good fit for the community. We create wealth and jobs all throughout Kosciusko County and we’re just really excited to kind of now get into attainable housing,” she said.
Director of Projects and Operations Dawn Wilkinson and Talent and Housing Manager Jessica Hauck have been working with Club 720 and Mission BUILD on housing. Club 720 connects prospective homebuyers to homeownership through tools, coaches and financial assistance to empower wealth through home equity, according to their website. Mission BUILD is a developer of housing and workforce development opportunities.
“We’re going to start building some attainable houses in some of our smaller communities,” Simmons said. “We love what we do. Every day is different. Every day is a challenge. Not every day is as fun as the next, but just really happy to be able to serve the people of Kosciusko County.”
In June, Simmons - formerly Friday, as she recently was married - will mark her second year with KEDCO. One of the big things that KEDCO has been a part of in those two years was bringing Slate Auto to Warsaw.
“It was the repurposing of the old RR Donnelley plant and that was very important to us. And the real story is that that building sat vacant for less than a year. We can’t wait to show it off to the community later this year, how it’s been repurposed and modernized,” she said.
Slate Auto will begin manufacturing all-electric bare-bones pickup trucks that can be accessorized at the Warsaw location later this year. They’ll cost somewhere in the mid-$20,000 range, though pricing is expected to be revealed in June, according to an article in carscoops.com.
Autocam Medical’s decision and announcement to build a manufacturing facility in Warsaw came about the same time KEDCO landed Slate Auto.
“Autocam chose to build a facility here, so we’re really excited about that, and, again the attainable housing we’ll be talking about here in the future. So it’s been a really great year. I joke with the team that somebody’s got to build something big in 2026 so that we can top that first year,” Simmons stated.
On Jan. 8, Autocam Medical had a groundbreaking ceremony for their own 100,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the Warsaw Technology Park. The building and the advanced equipment for the business is a $70 million investment by the company. Autocam Medical will hire 250 to 300 people to work in the facility that’s expected to be open by October.
Simmons said, “I’m really proud of the (KEDCO) team. One of the things when I came was that I challenged everybody to find what in economic development are you most passionate about, what do you want to learn about, what do you want to lead. They’ve all done that, so I’m just really proud of the relationships that we’ve built. We couldn’t do what we do without our partners.”
She said she’s very close with the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, OrthoWorx, Grace College and just a number of partners, including their industry partners.
“We’re really proud to have had the Made Here event that was put on last year, right before Christmas, that showcased the orthopedic ecosystem here. And we’ve already started to meet on Made Here part two, and how we can really take an international designation of being the ‘Orthopedic Capital of the World’ and show the world that, if it’s orthopedics, it can be created, packaged, it can be done here,” Simmons said.
KEDCO is excited to partner with the folks in the orthopedic industry, she said.
“Ag is also very big, as you know. Advanced manufacturing. (There’s) a number of businesses that are looking to expand and grow, so it’s a really good time to have a business in Kosciusko County,” she stated.
“What we want the community to know is that if we bring forth a project for consideration, whether it’s the county or one of the communities that we serve, we vetted that project pretty well and we believe that that would be a good fit for the community and hopefully creating jobs, creating wealth, creating opportunity. So we’re just real excited about the charge to be able to do that,” Simmons concluded.
