If AEP's nuclear plan for Sullivan County doesn't deliver power until the mid-2030s, what's our plan for the gap years while Indiana's own load keeps growing?

Treat the reactor study as a decade-out bet contingent on a Texas licensing decision, not a near-term capacity fix, and line up your own backup generation or demand management for the next several years regardless of how the Sullivan County project turns out.

With Autocam, Zimmer Biomet and DePuy Synthes all competing for the same precision machinists in Kosciusko County, should we expect wage pressure even outside orthopedics?

Yes. Autocam's hiring ramp toward 300 jobs adds another buyer for the same CNC machinist and programmer pool Warsaw's orthopedic cluster already competes over, and that pressure spreads to any plant in the county running precision machining regardless of industry.

If our incumbent workers train inside Purdue's Accenture-built Smart Manufacturing Academy, does that create a built-in preference for hiring Accenture on our next digital transformation project?

It can. Workers trained on one consulting firm's toolchain and methodology arrive with a built-in preference for that firm's approach, so if you send staff through the academy, budget time to evaluate alternatives separately rather than treating the training as vendor-neutral.

Manufacturing News TEG Daily

November 13, 2026 · Sullivan · Kosciusko · Tippecanoe · Gibson

AEP and Amazon Study 12 Nuclear Reactors in Sullivan County, Indiana, as Autocam Opens $70M Warsaw Plant

AEP and Amazon study 12 nuclear reactors in Sullivan County, Indiana, plus Autocam's Warsaw plant opening and Toyota's Princeton kei truck investment this week.

Daniel BurkePublished every day

AEP and Amazon are studying up to 12 nuclear reactors at a retired coal plant in Sullivan County, Indiana, a project that could take until the mid-2030s to deliver a single kilowatt even as the state's industrial power demand keeps climbing now. In Kosciusko County, Autocam Medical just opened a $70 million orthopedic plant in Warsaw with 300 jobs on the way. In Gibson County, Toyota is putting $34 million into a Princeton kei truck line built to dodge a 25% import tariff. Five developments landed across Indiana manufacturing this week, and each one lands on a different line of your plant's cost and labor budget.

01Sullivan

AEP and Amazon Study 12 Nuclear Reactors in Sullivan County, Indiana

American Electric Power and Amazon have opened a feasibility study for up to 12 small nuclear reactors, nearly 960 megawatts total, at the retired Breed coal plant site in Sullivan County, with X-energy supplying the reactor design. AEP and Amazon are also discussing a long-term power purchase agreement tying the reactor output directly to Amazon's own electricity needs.

For the huddle: If AEP's nuclear timeline doesn't deliver power until the mid-2030s while I&M's own forecast shows Indiana peak load nearly doubling by 2030, what's our backup plan for securing capacity in the gap years?

SourcesAmerican Electric Power Company (AEP) Eyes Up To 12 Indiana Nuclear Reactors (simplywall.st)

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02Kosciusko

Autocam Medical Opens $70 Million Warsaw Orthopedic Plant, Hiring Toward 300 Jobs

Autocam Medical held its grand opening November 9 for a new 100,000 square foot plant at 1890 Polk Drive in the Warsaw Technology Park, backed by an estimated $70 million investment. CEO John C. Kennedy and Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose cut the ribbon on a facility that employs 10 people today and plans to add 250 to 300 jobs making orthopedic implants, spinal implants and precision cutting tools.

For the huddle: With Zimmer Biomet, DePuy Synthes and now Autocam all competing for the same specialized CNC machinist pool in Kosciusko County, are we prepared for wage pressure on precision machining roles even if we're not in orthopedics?

SourcesAutocam Medical Opens Warsaw, Indiana Plant Backed by $70 Million Investment as Hiring Ramps Toward 300 Jobs (einpresswire.com)

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03Statewide

Oxford Properties Finances $155 Million Rail-Yard Redevelopment in Columbus, Ohio

JLL Capital Markets arranged a $155 million construction loan from Oxford Properties for Buckeye Yards, a four building, 1.79 million square foot industrial development on a former Norfolk Southern rail yard in Columbus, Ohio. The 153 acre first phase sits near the I-70/I-270 interchange and carries a 10-year tax abatement.

For the huddle: Do we have any underused rail-adjacent or former industrial sites in our footprint that could attract this kind of institutional construction financing if we packaged a tax abatement ask to our county?

SourcesJLL Capital Markets provides $155 million construction loan for $1.79-million industrial development in Columbus (rejournals.com)

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04Tippecanoe

Purdue and Accenture Scale Smart Manufacturing Training in West Lafayette

Purdue's Mitch Daniels School of Business detailed its multiyear partnership with Accenture, which has produced two programs: the Smart Manufacturing Academy, a self-paced online curriculum for machine operators, technicians and plant managers, and the Smart Learning Factory, a working production demo on Purdue's West Lafayette campus. Purdue also disclosed a separate deal giving students and faculty access to Google Cloud's AI tools and high-performance computing.

For the huddle: If our incumbent workers get trained through a program built on Accenture's methodology and toolchain, does that create an implicit bias toward hiring Accenture for our next digital transformation project, and is that a trade-off we're comfortable with?

SourcesPurdue and Accenture: A model for applied partnership (ibj.com)

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05Gibson

Toyota Invests $34 Million in Princeton to Build the Scion KEI-01 Kei Truck

Toyota is investing $34 million at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana in Princeton to assemble the KEI-01, the first vehicle under its revived Scion brand, adding roughly 50 jobs at the Gibson County plant. By certifying the truck under federal Low-Speed Vehicle rules capped at 25 miles per hour, Toyota avoids the 25% Chicken Tax that applies to imported light trucks and pays roughly 2.5% duty on parts instead, directly undercutting the gray-market pipeline of used Suzuki Carry, Honda Acty and Daihatsu Hijet imports currently selling for $8,000 to $14,000.

For the huddle: If NHTSA eventually creates a higher-speed micro-utility category based on Toyota's Princeton fleet data, could that open a new vehicle-adjacent product line for our own operation, or does it just accelerate competition from GM's Chevy Labo and Telo Truck?

SourcesToyota KEI-01: An 11-Foot Kei Truck Capped at 25 MPH (theverge.com)

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