MUNCIE – There is good news on the horizon for the labor force in Muncie/Delaware County.
Japanese auto parts maker NTN Driveshaft is building an $87 milllion driveshaft plant in Anderson that will employ more than 500 workers.
Israel-based Omen USA, a maker of aluminum parts for the auto industry, plans to locate its first North American production facility in Richmond, creating up to 100 new jobs by 2019.
And Sarasota, Fla.-based Boar's Head, a supplier of premium delicatessen meats/cheeses, reportedly will hire 200 workers by the end of 2017 at its new, $80 million processing facility on Ind. 3 in Henry County.
“Each county competes for investment, but if it lands in the region it benefits everybody, because, to the people making the investment, the owners, county lines are really arbitrary, meaningless,” said Corey Murphy, president of the New Castle-Henry County Economic Development Corp. “From a workforce standpoint, and from an amenities standpoint, they’re looking at the surrounding counties. We’re talking about a 30-minute commute, sometimes a 45-minute commute, depending on the wages.”
In 2013, the latest year for which data are available, 480 Delaware County residents commuted to work in Henry County, another 1,759 commuted to work in Madison County and 74 others commuted to Wayne County.
Meanwhile, 3,606 residents of Henry, Madison and Wayne counties commuted to work in Delaware County.
“It’s not uncommon to cross two or three county boundaries for a good-paying job,” said Mindy Kenworthy, CEO of the 10-county East Central Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP).
Kenworthy commutes from her home in Richmond to her job at the partnership’s office in downtown Muncie.