RICHMOND — In tough environments, the Wayne County tourism and economic development leaders told the Wayne County Council Wednesday that the future is bright.
Tim Rogers, president and CEO, of the Economic Development Corp. of Wayne County reported than in 2011 nine projects had been completed which has grown from four projects in 2009, his first year on the job.
The C.R. England Truck Driving School project in the Rose City Business Park, the former Wayne Works building in Richmond, was completed in December. Not only will it provide about 35 new jobs, but with 60 students every few weeks, the school is negotiating with hotels and restaurants for their students, he said. The company will invest some $2.2 million.
The nine projects represented 165 jobs created or retained with a new payroll of $5.7 million and investment of more than $26 million, he said. For every $1 invested in the EDC operations and for incentives, approximately $21 of private investment was made in the community.
“We see activity picking up but whether that means projects may take several months of limbo as the political process sorts it out,” he said. “There is a lot of uncertainty with money availability and cost so many businesses are just holding on and waiting.”
A concern is that with manufacturing picking up, availability of people with technical skills is becoming a real issue, Rogers said. While Wayne County has more than 10 percent unemployment, at a recent regional manufacturing summit, companies were reporting not being able to fill skilled positions.
With that concern, Wayne County has available Ivy Tech Community College, Purdue Statewide Technology, Indiana University East and science programs at Earlham College that can help alleviate the issue, he said. Most communities the size of Wayne County cannot offer those educational opportunities.
One highlight of the year includes the permit approvals for the Midwest Industrial Park phase two along Interstate 70, west of the U.S. 35 interchange, she said. Construction should begin in late spring for roads, water and sewer. The 140-acre project will allow the EDC to go after bigger projects because currently, the largest lot available is 40 acres.
Another highlight is creation of the Whitewater Valley Data Center. The group will develop a metropolitan statistical model of Wayne and surrounding counties to show demographically that Wayne County is big enough to compete for projects with Dayton, Ohio, Cincinnati or Indianapolis.
Site selectors look at metropolitan statistical areas and unfortunately Wayne County sits between those larger cities, he said.
“I had one tell me, ‘Prove to me you are big enough to compete on a population and workforce basis, and if you can’t do that, then we’re not going to consider you,’” he said. “They will collect data we need from the area to prove in numbers we can compete. It will be housed at the Wayne County Foundation and only use contracted employees.”
The budget for 2012 of $612,882 is a 2 percent decrease from 2010. When the discretionary fund available to the EDC board without county commissioner approval is considered, the reduction is nearer 4 percent, Rogers said. The relationship with the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce created last year has helped with some of the savings.
The council approved the budget.
Wayne County selected as Super Celebration site
Mary Walker, county tourism executive director, reported that Wayne County had been selected as a Super Celebration Site for the Super Bowl Host Committee, one of 20 in the state and only one of five outside the Marion County and the doughnut counties.
“There are really fun and exciting things going along with that designation,” she said. “One is that we get tagged onto the Indianapolis Super Bowl host page. We get all kinds of attachments that we couldn’t get without it. Our local lodging will be linked to the host committee.”
She said the NFL had contracted with many hotels a year ago. They are selling those sites but for those not contracted with the NFL, unless people are on their own, it’s difficult to seek out and book rooms unless someone knows the area. The local lodging availability and rates will be linked to the site, as well as restaurants.
“Our hope is we get northeast teams,” she explained. “I know many would love to have the Bengals in the Super Bowl, but from an economic standpoint, it would not be the best for us and Indianapolis. Bengals fans would be close enough they could drive to and from the event and not stay overnight. It would not have the economic impact of out of the area teams would have. For us, northeast teams would be coming through Richmond/Wayne County and we could sell additional rooms. An hour away is nothing.”
Walker told county council that commitments for coming year includes more than 18,000 participants, representing almost 15,000 room nights already reserved for the lodging industry.
Eight bids for conventions and tours are still pending, which could boost that number significantly.
The secured bookings would result is some $2.2 million impact on the local economy through the hotels, restaurants and shopping by the participants, she said.
“When we bid for events, it’s for a year or more in advance,” she said. “The actual participants for 2011 were those bid in previous years. For 2011, we had more than 32,000 participants and approximately 30,000 room nights.”
The group goal for 2012 is 32,000 participants, she said.
Wayne County has created several theme trails for participants to view when visiting the county because it provides a specific activity rather than a generic, “Come to Wayne County, we have everything you want,” she said. The Chocolate Trail Passport has proven successful. The Tiffany window trail which includes Reid Presbyterian Church with more than 62 Tiffany windows place others scattered throughout the county.
With the recent additions of murals throughout the county, a mural trail has been established to view the many murals in Richmond as well as Cambridge City, Hagerstown and Greens Fork, she said. A mural puzzle is also coming. The trails instill a sense of pride in the community.
In the future, there could be a tombstone trail to see some of the more elaborate tombstones in the county, a regional wine trail in the conjunction with Darke County, Ohio and a Cardinal Greenway tour, she said.
The tourism office has also been successful promoting the county through use of the social media with fans on Facebook from several foreign locations, she added.
During the year, Walker said 52 travel articles were written about the county in publications such as Midwest Living magazine, Kentucky Living, American Road Magazine, Antique Week, Chicago Tribune and others. The value of those articles cannot be stated.
The council approved the budget of $496,730, derived from the innkeeper’s tax and other non property tax sources.
Councilman Tony Gillam reported the general fund balance beginning 2012 is up from previous years. Jan. 1, 2010, the balance stood at $4.5 million with $5.9 million on Jan. 1, 2011 and $6.3 million heading into 2012. That figure does not include $200,000 transferred to the rainy day fund at the close of business last year.
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