GREENSBURG — The Greensburg/Decatur County Economic Development Corp. (EDC) held their 2016 annual meeting on Thursday, June 9 at the MainSource Financial Group Headquarters to discuss annual reports, as well as the current direction Decatur County and the State of Indiana. According to most reports, Decatur County and Indiana are making economic progress.
Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IDEC) President Jim Schellinger was the featured speaker during the luncheon and touted Indiana's strong economic reports and trends.
Before presentations commenced, EDC Board of Directors President Archie Brown, Vice President David Miers and Treasurer Chris Bower were relected. The board also welcomed newly-elected Secretary Steve Freeman. The EDC is a public-private entity with one-third of their operating budget coming from the county, one-third from the city, and one-third from private donors.
The EDC says, “Our mission is to be a catalyst in increasing economic wealth and growth in Decatur County through collaboration with government officials and business partners.”
And according to the meeting’s first official speaker, Greensburg Decatur County EDC Executive Director Marc Coplon, the county is seeing success.
In his message, he stated that in Sept. 2015, Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development (DWD) reported that Decatur County had a 3.3 percent unemployment rate, which was the second lowest in the 10-county workforce area and 12th lowest in the state. Roughly seven months later, that increased slightly to 3.8 percent. However, 479 more people joined the labor force in April 2016 than in April 2015.
“Right now, our community has what I would call a ‘healthy dilemma,’” Coplon said. “We have a 3.8 percent unemployment rate. The people in Decatur County are working more.”
Coplon continued by speaking about potentially expanding current businesses and bringing in additional ones.
“To assist the healthy growth of our community and existing employers, the EDC has joined a collaborative effort with four other local non-profits to participate in the state’s Stellar Communities Designation Program,” Coplon stated in his message.
In part, he then mentioned that the effort would hopefully result in a successful 2017 application that would put the county on a “fast track” grant process for community development projects that will bring people to Decatur County.
By the end of the summer, the EDC expects to market a 550 acre “Business Enterprise Park” across from Honda. It will be an Indiana Site Certified location. Similarly, Coplon talked of speaking with a developer who has plans for a 50,000 square-foot building that is expandable to 200,000 square-feet – a shell building.
“Success of these two projects will give us adequate site and building products for interested new businesses,” Coplon said.
Last year, through their on-going existing business visitation program, the executive director said they continued to build strong relationships with the community’s existing businesses.
“In our last program year, we assisted Valeo’s expansion of 25 new jobs with a $22 million investment in new machinery,” Coplon continued. “We also helped Hitachi’s on-going incentives program that will add 36 new jobs and a $20.2 million capital investment fairly soon.”
As far as numbers in regards to small businesses, in 2015, the local EDC provided small business loans to Top Flight Athletics in the amount of $430,000 to expand and add five or six employees, and also supported Rouge Bridal, adding two employees.
According to research done by the EDC’s Community Growth Group, Coplon said they suggested that a well-run Community Event Center may result in regional attraction with a good chance of profitability. The EDC said those assumptions were confirmed through an additional study from a respected consulting firm. Now, the EDC Board has been given approval to begin soliciting the community’s private sector for Community Event Center funding.
Finally, Coplon ended his speech summarizing future plans, all of which seemed to be filled with optimism.
“In this program year, the EDC will continue its more traditional efforts of attracting new businesses, supporting our existing businesses, and helping new and start-up businesses,” Coplon said. “But it will also work on community development projects, like the Stellar Communities program and the Community Event Center, each of which would make Greensburg-Decatur County a more attractive place to live.”
IDEC President Jim Schellinger was then welcomed to the stage for a presentation.
As Schellinger says, comparatively, in the Midwest, the state is doing quite well. He referred to a few statistics to back that point.
“We are No. 1 in the nation for small business growth, and Indianapolis is ranked No. 2 in the ‘Best Cities for Graduates,’” Schellinger said.
What was referred to as a record year for the state, included 323 businesses deciding to relocate or expand in Indiana, creating 26,555 jobs. It was also noted that more Hoosiers are working in private sector jobs than ever before in the state’s 200-year history.
According to Schellinger, 2016 is off to a good start, and the state is on pace to at least meet or exceed last year. Already, 106 companies have decided to expand or relocate in the state, creating over 8,000 jobs.
“…So, we’re moving in the right direction and that’s what’s important,” Schellinger said. “The only way to get there is to keep moving in the right direction,”
Schellinger said Decatur County has been “knocking it out of the park." Specifically, the president of the IDEC said that Honda Manufacturing of Indiana deciding to bring the Honda CR-V to the plant speaks volumes for the community. The move is expected to add 100 jobs at Honda.
Referring back to county employment numbers, in a population of roughly 26,521, approximately 14,369 Decatur County residents are currently in the labor force, with a 3.8 percent unemployment rate, which is below the state and national average. The per capita income is $38,480 with an average wage of $17.98 per hour.
Following the presentation, Indiana Rep. Randy Frye spoke about the positive economic progression.
“After seeing this PowerPoint presentation today, I’m excited beyond words, because this is exactly what we were trying to accomplish,” Frye said. “Of course, we can always get better and we can always do more, but this is a great barometer of where we’re going and where we’ve been and how well we’re doing.”