By ANNIE GOELLER, Daily Journal of Johnson County staff writer
Shelbyville wants a reputation makeover before the new Honda plant comes to Indiana.
Economic development officials don’t want prospective businesses to view the city east of Franklin or Shelby County as sleepy areas opposed to development.
They want business officials to know they are welcome to build and bring jobs to the county.
The announcement of a Honda plant in neighboring Decatur County has put a rush on plans to develop Shelby County, said Dan Theobald, executive director of Shelby County Development Corp. He is the former director of Johnson County Development Corp.
Business leaders are drawing up a list of available buildings and land and want to promote residential, industrial and retail development and make people more aware of Interstate 74, the highway that connects the county to the future site of the Honda plant.
Theobald said he is forming a group to develop a marketing plan and get in touch with companies that could locate in Shelby County. Some of the companies could be auto parts manufacturers that could supply the Honda plant.
He also wants to promote current and future businesses along State Road 44, near I-74.
“We want to get in the situation where people don’t have to go to Greenwood to shop,” he said.
Since Honda hasn’t announced what vehicle model will be made at the new plant, Theobald and Shelby County businesses can’t be sure how they will be affected.
One Shelby County company makes auto parts and might supply Honda, but that could change if the new plant produces a model that doesn’t use the business’s product, Theobald said.
But it also means businesses that are not located in the area could move in to be closer to the plant.
Theobald wants to be ready for that and knows from researching other areas where a plant was built that it can’t happen overnight.
He already planned to look at developing the community with or without Honda but said the announcement of the plant is speeding up his plans, he said.
Though he doesn’t want to give away his ideas to neighboring communities, he also wants to be clear that the surrounding counties should work together for the plant.
“What’s good for Franklin is good for Shelbyville and vice versa,” he said.
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