We must all work together to continue moving forward.
That, in essence, was the message New Castle Mayor Greg York shared during his annual address to New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce members and guests during a luncheon held Thursday in the conference room at Henry County REMC headquarters.
The mayor started his presentation by reminding those in attendance a lot of things have changed since Chrysler, Modernfold and other large employers called New Castle home.
The closing of those two factories and others over the course of the past 30 to 40 years created some challenging times for local elected officials and citizens. Several years of complacency followed and the situation looked grim for several years, he said.
That pessimism has taken a back seat in recent years, he said, as organizations like the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corporation and others have actively tried to fight back the tide of complacency and done what they can to make New Castle and Henry County more competitive with respect to retaining and attracting new industries and businesses.
Mayor York also conceded the community went through several years where funding for public projects and business recruitment efforts was scarce, but said there is enough money available to do what we can to make positive changes.
“We’re not poor, but we’re not trying to be Carmel. We’re not trying to be Fishers,” he said. “But, we can be the best that we can possibly be, and that’s the direction that we’ve chosen to move this community.”
After introducing the new police chief and assistant chief and recognizing several members of the city’s fire and EMS departments, York said New Castle’s emergency responders are among the best in the state and indicated they are proof the community is capable of putting its best foot forward.
On the subject of finances, York said the city is in better shape than it has been in several years.
“We’re very fortunate that in the last six years the City of New Castle has finished in the black six years in a row,” he said. “We were $3.5 million in the red when this administration took over. ... We’ve just finished our third year of having an A+ bond rating, and for a city the size of New Castle to have an A is unheard of. For us to have an A+, we’re very fortunate.”
He praised members of the city council, council president Mark Koger in particular, for being fiscally prudent and using $90,000 in revenue the city receives from riverboat taxes to leverage more than $3 million in grants the city has used for a variety of purposes.
He also noted the city’s Rainy Day Fund remains intact and there are no plans to tap into it.
York said the plan he has in mind involves continuing to make improvements that will move the city forward. He cited ongoing efforts to improve city parks and the development of the 1400 Plaza in the downtown business district as a couple examples.
He noted that Boar’s Head, TS Tech and Crown have all added jobs and said now is not the time to relax.
“We’re promoting our community like it’s never been promoted before,” he said. “It’s not time to be complacent. It’s time to move forward. It’s time to accelerate. It’s time to put our foot on the gas and go forward at a speed like we’ve never gone before.”
York urged New Castle’s existing businesses to focus their energies on growing and helping the community move forward.
“We’re going to get better,” he said. “It may not happen tomorrow, it might be a couple months down the road, but what I’m trying to prepare you for is to be ready for change in New Castle. Be excited about changes coming to New Castle. We’re never going to be Carmel and we’re never going to get Chrysler back, but ... we’re going to be proud of what we have and what we’ve done.”
In closing, the mayor said he hasn’t accomplished everything that he would have liked to at this point, and for that reason, his plan is to seek at least one more term in office.
In the meanwhile, he said he is excited about what the future holds in store for New Castle and encouraged everyone to do what they can to make the city the best it can be.