ELKHART, Ind. (WOWO) — A new 65,000-square-foot testing facility is expanding Elkhart’s role in the construction and recreational vehicle industries, bringing several testing operations together while creating the potential for additional local jobs.

ICC Evaluation Services, or ICC-ES, is now operating the new laboratory, where engineers and technicians test materials and products to determine how they perform under conditions designed to replicate the real world.

The facility handles testing for construction materials and vehicles, including recreational vehicles and ambulances according to WSBT.

Luis Sotelo, ICC-ES lab operations manager, said the testing can examine everything from the structural strength of a material to how it withstands severe weather.

“So we test their structural capacity of the material or the samples, plus the resistance to the weather like hurricane, tornado and air, things like that,” Sotelo said.

The new Elkhart facility consolidates testing work that previously was spread across three separate locations in Goshen and Nappanee.

Company officials say bringing the operations together allows employees to work with larger samples, conduct multiple tests simultaneously and coordinate projects more efficiently.

“The size helps a lot. Before this facility, we used to have three different labs. So the size is a huge help because now we can have bigger samples, or we can be a little bit more efficient by having multiple tests at the same time,” Sotelo said.

The larger facility also brings engineers and technicians with different specialties into the same workplace.

That can be particularly useful when a product requires several types of testing before it can be evaluated or certified.

Sotelo said the arrangement allows employees with varying levels of experience to work together and share technical knowledge.

“It improves the coordination and the share of ideas,” Sotelo said. “For example, we have people who have been doing this for 20 years, we have people who have been doing this for one year. So we share the knowledge, we share the training, and it’s easier to coordinate different types of products.”

The operation is expected to grow as demand for testing increases.

ICC-ES plans to add between 15 and 20 jobs in Elkhart, primarily for project managers and technicians.

The expansion comes in a region already closely associated with recreational vehicle manufacturing, but company officials envision a broader identity for Elkhart — one that includes not only producing RVs and other manufactured products, but also testing and evaluating the materials used to build them.

The new laboratory gives manufacturers access to a larger, centralized testing operation without having to coordinate work among multiple facilities.

For construction companies and manufacturers, that can mean greater efficiency when products need to undergo several evaluations.

The testing process is intended to determine whether materials and products meet applicable performance standards before they reach the marketplace or are used in construction and manufacturing applications.

The facility’s work ranges from structural testing to evaluating resistance to environmental forces, giving engineers a way to assess how products may perform when exposed to demanding conditions.

For Elkhart, the project represents both an expansion of an existing business operation and a potential source of new employment.

And as ICC-ES continues building out the facility, company leaders say they want the community’s reputation to extend beyond its longstanding connection to RV manufacturing.

The long-term goal, Sotelo said, is for Elkhart to become known not just for making