Released on July 23, 2008

Compass Automotive Group, Franklin, Ind., has invested $3 million to improve its headquarters and add diecasting to its aluminum permanent mold shop, the inaugural plant in the group’s growing stable of metalcasters.

The facility, one of two that comprise Compass’s Casting Technologies Co., will add 40 new employees to its current group of 85. The company will begin hiring operators, maintenance technicians and professional staff in the fourth quarter of 2008. According to a company spokesperson, the renovations were precipitated by new contracts, the company’s optimistic outlook for its target market and a reshuffling of Compass’s overall product mix.

The announcement marks Casting Technologies’ second expansion in less than a year. In September 2007, the company committed to create 42 new jobs and invest $1.8 million in its Johnson County facility.

Casting Technologies produces aluminum die castings for a variety of major auto manufacturers. The new diecasting line will serve the company’s safety-critical castings customers, producing parts such as airbag controls and steering systems components. Some of the new work will come over from Compass’s Cleveland plant, as well as its two facilities in Mexico.

“Some of [the changes] were purely driven by proximity to customers; others were business decision-based,” said Compass president and COO Craig Conaty.

When Casting Technologies was purchased several years ago by private equity firm Monomoy Capital Partners LP, New York, it was the firm’s only automotive metalcaster. Compass was formed last November in response to subsequent acquisitions.

“We’ve grown quite a lot,” Conaty said. “We [purchased] this facility in June of 2006, the Magnesium Aluminum Corp. in December 2006, tied them together in late summer [2007], and when we made the acquisition of Alcoa [in November 2007], we had enough pieces together to make a company.”

According to Conaty, Compass has found a niche in the automotive industry that has continued to be in high demand—lightweight aluminum and magnesium parts that can mean savings at the pump for automobile operators.

“There are a lot of people in trouble [in this industry], but we see these as pretty opportunistic times,” Conaty said. “The underlying market demand continues to increase, and we’re seeing some added interest here as the fuel prices go up and people are continuing to look for more light-weighting solutions.”

For the metalcaster’s efforts in job creation, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Casting Technologies $327,000 in performance-based tax credits and up to $24,000 in training grants. A press release issued by Compass indicated the company also will pursue property tax abatement through the City of Franklin.