Kokomo Company winding down ventilator production

Ventec Life Systems will stop producing medical breathing machines in Kokomo by the end of themonth, the company’s CEO has told employees.

Ventec is “winding down production in Indiana” because of weakening demand for its ventilators, Ventec CEO Chris Kiple said in an email sent to employees Tuesday and obtained by the Kokomo Tribune.

Ventec, in a partnership with General Motors, began operations in the GM Components Holdings plant in April, hiring local employees to make 30,000 ventilators for hospitals in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Vice President Mike Pence visited the plant in April.

The company has about 800 employees in Kokomo.