Tag:Plymouth
Marshall County has its first Shovel Ready Site!
As chairman of Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), I’m pleased to see the announcement that a 57 acre site in the Plymouth Industrial Park has achieved Shovel Ready status. The property belongs to the Plymouth Industrial Development Corporation (PIDCO). PIDCO paid the cost of achieving Shovel Ready status with MCEDC completing the necessary legwork and application. “Shovel Ready” is a term that has been bandied about for years in economic development circles, but Indiana has established a definition and criteria for a site to be considered Shovel Ready. (You can see powerpoint slides on the requirements here.) PIDCO’s site is now one of only five in our eight county area with this designation. That gives us a leg up and gives site selectors another reason to visit us.
For more details, check out the press release here.
Election Day!
Just a reminder to GET OUT AND VOTE!!! I was to my polling place just before noon and if the number of signatures I saw in the book are any indication, the turnout is going to be light. It’s a sad commentary when the news polls show Congress and the President with approval ratings in the basement, but then when citizens have a chance for input in the elections they can’t be bothered. The majority of seats up for consideration in this primary election are for State and Local positions. Not as controversial, but still important. I told you why I was supporting Francis Ellert previously here. There are many other important candidates to support on the ballot as well.
As a closing note, please make your vote an informed vote. Even at this late hour it’s not too late to find out about the candidates and vote responsibly. If you’re not going to do that, then I retract my opening request. I should have said, Get out and Vote… RESPONSIBLY!
Ellert for State Representative
Kevin Berger presenting ABC's endorsement and check to Francis Ellert at Coca-Cola Bottling in Plymouth
I had the opportunity to meet with Francis Ellert recently and present him with a check and endorsement from Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana (ABC). Easterday Construction has been a member of ABC for nearly three decades and I have served on the organization’s State Board of Directors through four terms. Francis has attended several ABC events and the organization has found him to be a like-minded individual that will fit well in representing our Free Enterprise cause. I consider Francis a personal friend and I was pleased to be able to relay our support.
This is Francis’s second run at the Indiana House District 17 position. I supported him in his first run (see here) and will do so again this time. Currently he has a primary challenger, but no Democrats have filed to run for the position in the Fall. Turnout will still be important in the primary. Since the Republican candidate for President has been decided before the Indiana primary, it’s important to make your voice heard in this local issue.
Lest you think voting isn’t important in the primary, there seems to be a real divide in the campaigning. I see very few Harman signs in the Culver area where Francis is well represented. I see mostly Harman signs in the Bremen area where Tim is well known. Culver in particularly shouldn’t be complacent and assume that Francis has it sewn up! We need to get out the vote and support him.
I can’t say anything bad about Tim Harman. From what I know of him, he is a good person, has run a clean campaign and has the best interests of District 17 at heart. But he’s not the known candidate that Francis is. Francis ran a hard campaign against Nancy Dembowski in 2010 and I think he benefited from it. Not only did it help him better define his positions, but it helped him make contacts that will be crucial when he joins the General Assembly next year. Those contacts are what have garnered the support of the Indiana Chamber, the Indiana Manufacturers Association and the Indiana Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors.
Please consider helping me support Francis in the primary. In less than a week we’ll be making this choice. I can’t tell you how much I look forward to voting for a candidate that I can truly support rather than choosing the lesser of evils. I don’t think Francis tells election fairy tales.
Kevin
Super Tuesday Thoughts
All of the news organizations are lathered up about today being “Super Tuesday“. It’s all a little frustrating as I generally feel like the decisions on the national candidates have been made long before Indiana’s Primaries roll around. Hoosiers have the opportunity to support candidates financially before the primaries, but in the end it’s the votes that count. I guess we’ll have to see if the new method of awarding delegates makes Hoosier votes relative this year.
Along with the changes with the national delegate counts, we’ve seen some local changes as well. For those of you that haven’t seen the new district maps, Marshall County occupies the majority of Indiana House District 17. Fulton County to the south shares a portion of District 17 as well. (See the map to the right) We will no longer be “represented” by Nancy Dembowski as she will be in District 20. The latest information I’ve received is that she didn’t file to run so she is retiring after this year. That will leave Tom Dermody to run unopposed in the general election. Mr. Dermody is the current Representative for District 20.
There are currently two Republicans, Francis Ellert and Tim Harman, running in the primary to represent District 17. As of this time I haven’t had the chance to learn too much about Mr. Harman, but I did support Francis Ellert in 2010 (previous blog post here) and feel he would do a good job representing the interests of our district.
On the Senate side, Marshall County is split along what appears to be township lines. (See the map to the right) West Township along with Union, Green, Walnut and Tippecanoe Townships along the south side of the County fall into Senate District 18. District 18 covers all or part of 5 additional counties south of Marshall County. The remainder of Marshall County is part of Senate District 9 which includes portions of Elkhart, Kosciusko and St. Joseph Counties to the north and east.
State Senator Randy Head currently represents District 18 which includes Culver. Senator Head came to Culver to speak last Saturday, but unfortunately I was unable to attend. Hopefully Culver generated a good turnout for him! Senator Head is running unopposed in the primary and general elections.
State Senator Ryan Mishler currently represents District 9 which includes Plymouth and the remainder of Marshall County to the north and east. Senator Mishler is running unopposed in the primary and general elections.
I would encourage you to take the time to learn about Francis Ellert and Tim Harman. We often mistakenly think that our State representatives aren’t important, but they are key to decisions that affect our daily lives and how competitive our State is nationally and worldwide. I’ll be cursing their decision a few years back to go to Daylight Savings Time when the alarm goes off next Monday just as I cheered their decision to implement Right to Work in the current session.
Marshall County Economic Development partners with Small Business Develoment Center
Marshall County Economic Development is pleased to announce that in partnership with the North Central Indiana Small Business Development Center, free, confidential, one-on-one business assistance will be available at our Plymouth office on Miller Drive once a month beginning Wednesday, March 23rd.
Individual appointments to meet with Alan Steele, ISBDC Business Advisor, will be scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. This opportunity is open to entrepreneurs considering starting a business and those new to business ownership. But it is important to note the wealth of information and support services that SBDC can provide to ANYONE making critical decisions about how to improve their small business – particularly useful for existing strong Marshall County businesses facing new challenges brought by the digital-global-information age!
See the range of services provided below and at the SBDC website at http://www.southbendbcg.com/ for more information on how SBDC can help you succeed in taking your business to the next level.
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MacKenzie Ledley - Executive Director, Pulaski County Public Library