Willoughby Industries: $10M Zionsville Expansion, 100 Jobs at $34/Hour Average

Willoughby Industries (a fourth-generation, family-owned Indiana plumbing-fixture manufacturer) announced its first major capital commitment under new leadership this week. Will and Nick Alderson, who took over from their father Craig Alderson in January 2025, are putting $10 million into a 105,000-square-foot facility at 6100 W. 96th Street in Zionsville. The project creates more than 100 new full-time jobs in Boone County at an average of $34 per hour in salaried positions while retaining more than 200 existing Indiana jobs.

Willoughby is consolidating CNC machining, robotic welding, laser cutting, electronics assembly, and solid-surface production under one roof, the strategic logic is vertical integration to compress custom quote-to-ship cycles for corrections and behavioral health buyers operating on tight bond-funded construction timelines. Those skilled-trades roles compete directly with the LEAP district talent pull from Lilly and Meta. The question for any manufacturer in an institutional segment is whether your current facility footprint allows you to match that kind of speed-to-quote, or whether you've structurally conceded that advantage.