ANDERSON — They have code names like “Raider,” “Hot Dog,” “Oreo,” “JFK” and “Flintstone” — projects that Anderson city officials hope will lead to investments and new jobs.
During the past two months, the Economic Development Department has been working on 38 new leads, with 16 of them coming from foreign companies.
Greg Winkler, executive director of the Economic Development Department, said the leads come from the Indiana Economic Development Corp., site selection brokers, regional organizations and from the department itself.
During his monthly report to the Anderson City Council, Winkler said for the period extending from March 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2011, the city worked on 538 projects. He said from Jan. 1, 2012, to the end of October that number has climbed to 666.
The trend of potential investment is not limited just to Anderson; Muncie has also seen an increase in activity in recent months.
“We’re averaging one new lead every other day,” Winkler said. “About half of that is from direct contacts made by the city.”
The increase in activity is being driven by an increase in consumer confidence in the U.S, he said.
“Companies are willing to put hard dollars into new equipment and buildings,” Winkler said. “With oil prices down, the cost of shopping goods is better.”
National experts believe that for every penny drop in the price of gasoline, it provides consumers with $1 billion in disposable income.
“Right now the U.S. economy is the safest in the world,” he said. “The country is attracting foreign investments. The question is how long will we be able to maintain a healthy export climate.”
Winkler said there is an elevated interest in Anderson because the city through the years has established a name with foreign investors.
Anderson has attracted investments from Japan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, China and Israel over the past few decades.
With a renewed interest in the former General Motors properties, Winkler said there are companies looking at the Guide Corp. property and the area along Scatterfield Road.
Winkler said the hope is that Anderson will close on several projects by the end of the year.
“We just need more jobs,” he said of the local economy. “We’re looking to use community development block grant funds for jobs and training.”
He said there is a lot of interest on the areas surrounding Exit 226 off Interstate 69 with a new hotel and another hotel looking at Exit 222.
“The key is to close at the right time,” Winkler said. “We want to keep as much money as possible available for future projects.”
Boars Head meats recently announced construction of a new processing facility in New Castle that will bring 200 jobs, and Chrysler this year opened a new transmission plant in Tipton County that will create up to 800 jobs.
As in Anderson, Jay Julian, CEO of the Muncie Chamber of Commerce, said there has been an increase in the area.
“We always seem to be working on 20 or 30 leads at any one time,” Julian said. “There has been more interest in the last two or three quarters of the year.”
Julian said there has been an upturn in activity in the east central Indiana region from Marion to New Castle.
“We’re getting some fresh looks from site selectors,” he said. “There have been some good investments in 2014 and hope it remains strong in 2015.”