Marshall County Job Growth

Culver government has taken a long break over the November/December holidays.  I know the holidays are tough for scheduling meetings, we are having some changing of the guard on various boards and commissions, and we haven’t found a new Town Manager yet.  <sigh!>  Acknowledging all that, business is moving forward.  The article to the right cites “2,153 new jobs expected state wide over the next few years.”  That number doesn’t seem as big when you consider that Marshall County businesses are projecting the addition of 500 jobs THIS YEAR!  Aggressive Manufacturing Innovations (AMI) is mentioned here adding 250 jobs in 2015.  In Culver, Elkay is projected the need for 100 new employees during their tax abatement hearing last year.

Culver’s To-Do list includes the following:

1. Complete an Action Plan.  This was discussed at the Comprehensive Plan Implementation Meeting last fall.  This would be the first step in defining steps to implement the Comprehensive Plan, which leads to To-Do list #2;
2. Complete a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).  This would put dollar amounts on the Action items so that things can be further prioritized and necessary funds can be budgeted.
3. Address the Housing issue.  The Town Council made promises to Elkay that they would form a Task Force and address the issues, but so far, the Task Force has yet to meet.  I did attend the Affordable Housing Summit in Chicago which was a useful first step, but we’ve yet to have a meeting where I can relate what I learned.  (Which is fading fast in my limited memory!)

Next week the Culver Town Council will convene with the new board members, elect leadership and begin making their appointments to the subsidiary boards and commissions.  Taking the next steps to kick off the Affordable Housing Task Force and hold an Action Plan meeting can’t happen too quickly after that.  Time is of the Essence…

Image Source:  Scan from Pilot News 12-20-14