MCEDC

MCEDC Culver Update

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Jennifer Laurent, Executive Director of Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), gave an update to the Culver Town Council last night.  Aside from giving a report on some of the activities MCEDC is involved in throughout the County, she discussed some of the specifics for Culver.  One these was her interactions with Elkay Wood Products, formerly Medallion Cabinetry.   Jennifer facilitated a radio interview June 15th on WTCA with Rick Coffman, Operations Manager, to discuss what they do and what their plans for the future are.  I think a key point here is that no one else in Culver is making these kind of contacts and making sure our largest industrial client is helped.

Jennifer also commended the Plan Commission and Redevelopment Commission for making the first steps towards a new Comprehensive Plan.  (20/20 Vision for Culver!)  She stressed some of the visioning needs that the plan should address along with the nuts & bolts infrastructure and land planning functions.

This is much like what I’ve been trying to promote with the various groups…  We need to use the development of the new Comprehensive Plan as the catalyst for new ideas about Culver’s future.  Communities are either growing or dying.  Maintaining the Status Quo is impossible.

Jennifer is also working with Culver’s new Town Manager, Jeff Schoeff, to coordinate some training sessions for the Redevelopment Commission, Plan Commission and Town Council.  One important topic will be TIF Districts.  Others topics relating to finances and the various powers of these boards will be considered as well.

I hope the council members and those in the audience recognize the value Culver gets from leveraging their funds in with Marshall County and the other Marshall County communities.  Budgets will no doubt be tight again this year, but without MCEDC, who would be doing these things for Culver?  We have so many individuals with good intentions, but they can’t make up for someone with dedicated time and tenure based on performance.

IEDC Economic Development Seminar

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I attended a seminar put on by IEDC (Indiana Economic Development Corporation) in Indianapolis last week.  I was fortunate that it was in the morning before an ABC State Board meeting in the afternoon, allowing me to combine the trip to Indy.  It still made a ridiculously long day since I had to hit the road before 6:00 to be at the seminar at 9:00, driving between the two in lieu of eating lunch and then leaving the ABC meeting I didn’t get home until about 7:30. 

I attended as Chairman of MCEDC (Marshall County Economic Development Corporation) along with MCEDC staff, Jennifer Laurent and Derek Spier.  I was pleased that Grant Munroe, Ralph Winters and and Rick Tompos attended on behalf of the Culver Redevelopment Commission and that Mayor Mark Senter and City Attorney Sean Surrisi attended on behalf of the City of Plymouth.  It was unfortunate that there weren’t others from Marshall County able to attend.

The program centered around creative ways communities and economic development corporations were encouraging growth through the use of TIF Districts, shell buildings and virtual computer presentations.   Several different EDC’s presented on their use of these tools to attract development.

Both Culver and Plymouth have TIF Districts in Marshall County and both have used them successfully.  Plymouth has been more creative than Culver, but nowhere near as creative as some of the presentations that were made last week!  In a nutshell, money taken in by the TIF Districts must be spent on capital projects to benefit the TIF District, which allows quite a bit of leeway in interpretation.  One interesting use involved the coordination of a single county wide TIF District coordinating two City Redevelopment Commissions in conjunction with a County Redevelopment Commission.  Can you imagine if Marshall County communities could foster that kind of cooperation!?!  I think it generated quite a few new ideas in the attendees.

The use of shell buildings was discussed.  Plymouth had been considering contracting for a shell building on  PIDCO property on the northwest side of the City.  I’m sure hearing the success of other communities with these ventures helped spur the signing of a letter of intent with Garmong Construction this past Tuesday night.  (WTCA story here.)  This will result in a new, 45,000 sf (expandable to 135,000 sf) tilt-up concrete building being constructed west of Pioneer Seed on Commerce Drive.  In our just-in-time delivery society, it’s common that we’re passed over by site selectors when we don’t have a building that fits their needs ready to go.  The anecdotal evidence presented suggested that having the building there got prospects to the community.  Even when the building didn’t fit their exact requirements, it often got them there to consider other available sites.

During MCEDC’s discussions with Ady-Voltedge, our marketing consultant, we often heard the benefits of virtual site build-outs.  It was presented that by showing what a building looked like on the site, a prospect would find it easier to make the jump to visualizing THEIR building on the site.  An example of this was shown where an existing, dilapidated, empty building was shown with a virtual facelift, new landscaping and cars in the parking lot.  They were able to sell the client on this vision before ever taking them to see the existing building.

I hope the other attendees came back with the new enthusiasm I gained from these presentations.  Indiana should be poised for a leap forward in economic prosperity.  Indiana is a business tax friendly, Right-To-Work State at the crossroads of America.  Marshall County needs to take every opportunity to be part of the leap in renewed growth Indiana is about to experience.

MCEDC Reelection

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Despite diligent campaigning on my part, my proposed successors all lost yesterday’s election.  I will be Chairman of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) for another year.  I have enjoyed the interaction in the position and feel I have learned a lot, but I had offered to step down.  It is not an onerous position, but I often cannot devote the time to it that I think it warrants.  My real job often gets in the way of my extracurricular activities!  For better or worse, my peers on the board disagreed with my self-assessment.

My involvement in MCEDC serves multiple personal and business goals:

  1. It is a way to give back to our community.  It is truly a need that was neglected before MCEDC’s inception.
  2. It is a way for me to know what the trends are in Marshall County as well as our region.  This helps me give direction to Easterday Construction.
  3. It is a way to influence the direction of Marshall County.  MCEDC has been a force in drawing our communities together and finding common goals that move our county forward.  I am proud to have been a part of this.

Regarding other board member updates, Roger Umbaugh was reappointed by Marshall County as their representative.  Don Mahoney was reappointed by Argos as their representative and accepted another term as Treasurer.  Bill Davis, Bremen’s representative, accepted another term as Vice Chairman.

I’m looking forward to another year of making a difference.  As always, suggestions are welcome.

Hoosier Tire News Release from Marshall County Economic Development Corporation

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PLYMOUTH (Dec. 29, 2011) – Mayor Mark Senter and executives from Hoosier Racing Tire today announced a major new investment in Hoosier’s Plymouth production plant, which is expected to create a combined 20 new jobs in the near term.

Hoosier Racing Tire, Corp. will invest $8 million to construct and equip a new 37,000 sq ft expansion to their rubber mixing plant on site, integrating operations that have previously been outsourced to an Ohio based firm. 

Founded by Bob and Joyce Newton in 1957, Hoosier manufactures a sophisticated range of performance tires and is today the largest manufacturer of racing tires in the world.  The company’s corporate headquarters and distribution facility is located in nearby Lakeville, IN and the company’s manufacturing facility is in Plymouth.  Hoosier has steadily added staff and currently has over 400 employees, with the majority of these based in Plymouth.

“This is a major expansion for our company, and it speaks to our confidence in Hoosier Tire’s continued growth and viability in this area,” said John DeSalle, Vice President of Engineering and Manufacturing.  “Last year was good to us, and this is a timely investment.  Financing of the project was sourced from our long time partners at 1st Source Bank.”

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Hoosier Racing Tire up to $140,000 in conditional Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits based on projected job creation.

The City of Plymouth will consider a tax abatement petition for real and personal property on January 11th.  At the filing of the petition on December 28th, DeSalle was commended by Mayor Senter and Plymouth Council members.  

“Hoosier Tire is important to our community in many ways,” said Mayor Senter.  “They are leaders in the field of racing because of an uncompromising commitment to excellence in their products and pure enjoyment of competition — both in the business world and on the track.  Plymouth is pleased to partner with them in this project, and hopefully on many ventures to come.”

“We have seen that companies like Hoosier Racing Tire are able to grow in Marshall County with decisive plans to outreach competition,” said Jennifer Laurent, Executive Director of Marshall County Economic Development Corporation.  “We welcome the expansion of the business and job creation, and also recognize a positive trend in local companies continuing to reinvest here as they weigh our assets against other locations.”

“NIPSCO’s Economic Development team was also a partner in making the project possible,” Laurent noted to Council members.  An existing electrical substation was required to be relocated by the building expansion plans, and NIPSCO participated in the cost and coordination of the move as well as necessary service upgrades.

Hoosier Racing Tire and Hoosier Tire & Rubber, historically two separate companies, will officially merge as one company to be known as Hoosier Racing Tire as of January 1, 2012.

Revised NextEra Wind Farm Map

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Above is the new map NextEra Energy has provided showing the area they are considering for their wind farm.  This is the latest map provided to the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC).  NextEra has moved the area they are considering further east than originally planned due to some of the concerns that have been expressed. 

This map shows not only Lake Maxinkuckee, but a delineation of Lake Maxinkuckee’s watershed boundaries.  As currently planned, there would be no towers within the watershed or within Union Township.  I am pretty much putting this up here for informational purposes without much comment as it doesn’t really change my thoughts expressed here and here.

I had a brief conversation about this with the County Plan Director, Ralph Booker, today at the Broadband and Bagels event.  He asked me if Culver was still planning to lynch him.  It’s obvious that Culver as a community is straining some relationships with the County over this.  I hope this doesn’t create a rift that makes future projects such as the recently completed Town/County outlet project impossible.