Manufacturing News
October 19, 2026
October 19, 2026 · Marshall County · Story 3 of 5
Marshall County's Labor Pool Shrinks Even as Unemployment Hits 3.2%
Marshall County Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Greg Hildebrand's third-quarter update shows county unemployment at 3.2% in August, below Indiana's 3.6% and the national 4.2%, but the labor force itself shrank 0.6% from August 2025. Diesel is running about $7 a gallon locally and the 30-year mortgage rate has climbed to 7.28%. MCEDC is partnering with Purdue MEP on maintenance training, running a quarterly Industrial Working Group and conducting a Countywide Infrastructure and Utility Study, a required step before the county can qualify for Indiana's Site Certified program and compete for larger state-referred projects.
Marshall County Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Greg Hildebrand's third-quarter update shows county unemployment at 3.2% in August, below Indiana's 3.6% and the national 4.2%, but the labor force itself shrank 0.6% from August 2025. Diesel is running about $7 a gallon locally and the 30-year mortgage rate has climbed to 7.28%. MCEDC is partnering with Purdue MEP on maintenance training, running a quarterly Industrial Working Group and conducting a Countywide Infrastructure and Utility Study, a required step before the county can qualify for Indiana's Site Certified program and compete for larger state-referred projects. Plymouth-based V Tech Conversions is already paying 165% of the county average wage, a benchmark that puts pressure on every other employer in the county's labor market to match it or lose workers to it.
For your morning huddle
- Q
With V Tech Conversions now setting a 165%-of-average wage floor in Plymouth, can we retain maintenance and skilled-trades staff without matching that benchmark, or do we need to get ahead of it now?
When one major local employer pays 165% of the county average wage, every other employer in that labor market eventually has to match it or lose workers to it, regardless of what's happening at plants in other states.
Briefing note
- Impact
- Marshall County is competing for a narrower slice of the state's attraction pipeline because Boone County's LEAP district is absorbing outsized IEDC attention, and locally Plymouth-based V Tech Conversions is already paying 165% of the county average wage, setting a benchmark incumbent employers will have to match or lose workers to. The Countywide Infrastructure and Utility Study matters more than it sounds: it's a prerequisite for Indiana's Site Certified program, meaning until it's complete, Marshall County likely can't compete for the largest IEDC-referred deals. There's also a quiet dependency risk: Purdue MEP, the county's named training partner, only secured federal NIST funding through a near-miss 2025 cancellation, so the workforce strategy rests on a federally precarious partner.
- Watch
- Watch for completion of the Countywide Infrastructure and Utility Study, which could move Marshall County into a higher IEDC Site Certified tier and unlock larger attraction projects.
Sources
- Marshall County Economic Development Corporation delivers third-quarter update: Low unemployment, workforce challenges ahead · giant.fm
Earlier coverage
- ITAMCO Pitches an Innovation District for Plymouth
- ITAMCO's Plymouth Innovation Bid Faces a Notre Dame Clock Colfax Corner Already Started
- V Tech Conversions, Plymouth: A Marshall County Startup Timed Into Indiana's Broadband Wave
- V Tech Conversions, Plymouth: A Wage Benchmark Every Marshall County Employer Now Has to Reckon With
- Northern Indiana Workforce Board Names SlateUp Its 2025 Partner, WIA Training Dollars Now Have a Clearer Front Door
From the brief, October 19, 2026
- Kratos Breaks Ground on $70 Million Radar and Hypersonics Complex Near Crane
- Indiana Foreign Trade Zone Tariffs Relief Drives a 53% Membership Surge
- Marshall County's Labor Pool Shrinks Even as Unemployment Hits 3.2%
- Winnebago Cuts 51 More Jobs in Iowa While Indiana's Middlebury Plant Keeps Running
- Urschel Laboratories Names Tim Crammer President in Chesterton
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