MCEDC

Regional Cities Initiative Helping

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To the right is an article that appeared in The Pilot News, December 18, 2017 discussing the impact of the Regional Cities Initiative. The study was conducted by Ball State University and concluded that it is making a noticeable difference in attracting talented young workers to the area.

Marshall County is part of the North Central Region along with St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties. Most of the funds for our region have been allocated and in Marshall County we’re seeing the impact through assistance in worker housing, manufacturing centers, expanded Boys & Girls Club facilities and an Aquatic Center. In Culver alone, the initiative has helped the Town provide infrastructure to Sand Hill Farm for entry-level housing and money has been set aside for assistance with an E-Commerce center which may provide entrepreneurial opportunities and worker training space. (Culver was in line for additional RCI grants, but the 60% private equity requirement proved daunting for a small community to achieve.)

It’s important to recognize what our local organizations have done to achieve these goals. Marshall County would not have had this opportunity without the foresight of the Marshall County Community Foundation (MCCF) and their initial investment of $10k into the program. That seed money was what put us on the map for this and made the initial connections to St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties. If Linda Yoder hadn’t taking this to the MCCF board and sold it, it wouldn’t have happened.

The hand-off from there went to Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). Without their efforts, many of the projects submitted by Marshall County would not have made the list before the application was submitted. Then the follow up to keep the dollars allocated to Marshall County stayed with Marshall County largely came down to the shepherding of Jerry Chavez and MCEDC. They were able to get a reallocation of funds to housing initiatives when original projects fell through and then when one of the four housing projects didn’t come to fruition, they were able to secure the money towards the other projects that were viable.

The money that went to the housing project in Culver helped Culver achieve Stellar Community designation this year. It’s a domino effect and currently the dominos are falling in our direction. This was former Governor Mike Pence’s vision when he spearheaded this program. Inject funds into regions that demonstrate the desire and determination to move forward and great things can happen. Let’s hope this continues to buoy our region, county and communities creating the excitement and drive to move us forward.

History of MCEDC’s County Development for the Future Program

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Jonathan Leist, Culver Town Manager, asked me to help him in a forum presentation on Community Collaboration at the Indiana Municipal Management Association (IMMA) annual meeting at Swan Lake Resort on Thursday. Kevin Overmyer was to be the original speaker in my position, but he had to attend the Bill signing in Indy that day and backed out. As Jonathan said, Kevins are interchangeable. He also asked Chuck Kitchell, Interim CSC Superintendent, to participate to help discuss the shared programs between the town and the school.

Jonathan wanted me to give history of the County Development for the Future program since it was an example of community collaboration on a larger scale. He asked me to give examples of collaboration that came from the program and talk about how it had morphed to meet needs over the years. I thought a synopsis of that discussion might be interesting to others here, so here you go!

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MCEDC Culver Editorial

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Nancy Tyree with Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) did a great article for the Pilot News that gives an update on the progress in Culver. It appeared in the December 12, 2016 addition of the paper. This is the second in a series that MCEDC is doing on all the communities in Marshall County. The first one on Argos appeared last month.  For those of you that don’t get the Pilot, I’ve reprinted the Culver article below.

This is one of the things MCEDC is doing to help promote the communities. We hope to put this out in other formats in the near future as a snapshot of what is happening in our communities. This should be useful to companies considering relocating to Culver and Marshall County. It gives you the flavor of the community and lets you know that things are happening here! Feel free to give Nancy feedback at: Nancy@marshallcountyedc.org

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Home to the second largest natural lake in Indiana and a private boarding school with national acclaim, it’s easy to view Culver as a resort town. But for the people who live there, it’s not a vacation spot—it’s a home, and they’re dedicated to the Town’s preservation and growth. Town Council President, Ginny Munroe describes Culver as, “a community of planners,” stating, “we have a track record of success with community involvement and thrive on taking on projects—no challenge is too big.” Town Council member Tammy Shaffer agrees, “Every project we take on has sustainability in mind. That’s what’s going to keep our small Town thriving.” Culver business owner and Marshall County Economic Development Corporation Board member, Kevin Berger, adds, “Our comprehensive plan, Stellar proposal, and housing development are all community-based collaborations.” It is no surprise then, what this collaborative, planning community has achieved in the last few years.

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Viking Paper Expansion

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We were pleased to be selected to be the contractor for the Viking Paper expansion project in Plymouth. There was a blurb on the expansion in Inside Indiana Business here, but somehow they failed to mention us! Shame on them!

It is proving to be an interesting project. The building is being designed to have train cars enter the building for unloading at a recessed loading dock. This is involving some interesting logistics including some esoteric clearance requirements provided by the railroad engineers.  (The ones that design railroad tracks, not the ones that blow the whistles when the trains cross the highway…) Viking works with large rolls of paper stock, so being able to offload their materials inside the building and out of the weather is valuable to them.

Jerry Chavez and Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) have been instrumental in helping us move this forward, both with the City of Plymouth and with the Railroad.

MCEDC Successfully fills the Commerce Building

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Commerce Building - New home of Pretzels, Inc.
Commerce Building – New home of Pretzels Inc.

MCEDC has been pleased to have the Commerce Building, a new shell building in Plymouth, to market to companies considering our area. Started in 2014 and completed in 2015, the Commerce Building has been responsible for bringing many companies to Marshall County that wouldn’t have otherwise considered us. At least one new business start-up, investing millions and providing hundreds of jobs, located in Marshall County this year because of coming to see the Commerce Building. The power of having a shell building to show has proven its value to us.

Below is a press release on the relocation of Pretzels Inc. to Plymouth. A good company and a good fit for Plymouth. Now we need to figure out how to keep this momentum going forward.

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Snack Producer Plans to Add Second Indiana Facility, Create 65 New Jobs

 

Plymouth  – Pretzels Inc., a pretzel and snack producer, announced plans today to expand its operations here, creating up to 65 new jobs by 2020.

“Here in Indiana, we have worked diligently to establish Indiana as the best place to do business by reducing regulations, cutting taxes and investing in our workforce,” said Governor Mike Pence. “Today’s news is evidence that Indiana is a state that works for companies like Pretzels Inc. as they continue to choose Indiana to grow their operations. As we enter into our third century, we will continue our economic momentum by equipping our job creators with the tools they need to succeed and creating a pro-growth business environment.”

The company, which is a pretzel and snack food private label provider, will invest approximately $15 million to purchase and equip a 45,000-square-foot facility at 2910 Commerce St. in Plymouth. The new plant, which will be the second Indiana location in addition to its Bluffton-based headquarters, will be responsible for the production of peanut butter and bulk pretzel products and will replace the company’s Pennsylvania-based manufacturing facility. Operations are expected to start at the beginning of 2017.

Pretzels Inc., which currently has 330 full-time employees at its headquarters in Bluffton, Indiana, plans to hire plant management and supervision, packagers, bakers, machine operators, quality control technicians and sanitation, maintenance and warehouse workers for its new center. Hiring will begin later this year.

“We are excited about the opportunity to build our new plant in Indiana and particularly the Plymouth area,” said Chip Mann and Steve Huggins, co-owners of Pretzels Inc., whose fathers started the business over 40 years ago. “We are lifelong Indiana residents and are pleased to continue the growth of our business in our home state.”

Founded in 1978, Pretzels Inc. is a family-owned business headquartered in Bluffton, Indiana. The company offers pretzels in over 50 shapes, 20 sizes and 900 varieties for both store brands, private labels and its own Harvest Road products. Its fastest growing product line is peanut butter filled pretzel nuggets, which will be produced at the new Plymouth-based facility.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Pretzels Inc. up to $350,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives. The city of Plymouth will consider additional incentives at the request of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation.

“The City of Plymouth is proud to welcome Pretzels Inc. into our community,” said Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter. “Plymouth will see the benefits of job creation and a strengthened economy very soon thanks to a team of both state and local leaders who have come together to make this project a reality.”

The Hoosier state ranks first in the Midwest and fifth nationally for the cost of doing business and companies like Pretzels Inc. continue to choose Indiana to grow their operations. Today, one in five Hoosiers work in the manufacturing industry and more than 8,500 industry establishments are located across the state.