Monthly Archives: September 2010

Grabill Developing Economic Plan

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The Fort Wayne-Allen County Economic Development Alliance has announced that it is working with the town of Grabill to oversee a master economic development plan for the community. Design Collaborative has been designated by the Alliance as the firm that will lead the planning process and will be based on input from community representatives, business representatives, the Grabill Town Council, Grabill Chamber of Commerce, economic development leaders and Allen County planners.

“With this study, we will have the tools we need to identify existing and emerging industries in Grabill, which will allow us more focus with our economic development efforts,” said Andi Udris, Alliance president. “This is an opportunity for us to really take advantage of the resources available to ensure the town of Grabill is even more attractive for businesses looking to grow or locate within the community.”
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Dubois County Dives Into Tourism

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The first-ever tourism wayfinding sign was installed in Dubois County with a brief ceremony and raising of the sign this morning in Ferdinand, Indiana. This event marked the beginning of 28 tourism signs that will be installed throughout Dubois County (in southern Indiana) in the coming weeks directing visitors to the various attractions and lodging facilities in the County.

“After many months of planning and perseverance, we are delighted to see this project come to fruition”, said Kristen Ruhe, executive director of the Dubois County Visitors Center & Tourism Commission.
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$150 Million Development Project Planned for Downtown Indianapolis

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Buckingham Companies is moving forward with a new downtown, mixed-use community – a development featuring a world-class business hotel, 320 high-end apartments, 40,000 square feet of restaurants and retail shops, and a proposed new flagship, state-of-the-art YMCA.

An initial study of the development’s anticipated economic impact paints a bright picture,
starting with an anticipated $350 million in income generation and consumer spending. According to studies, Indianapolis alone is estimated to receive annual revenues close to $1.7 million, and when combined with County and State revenues, the total tops $5 million annually as a direct result of the development. Additionally, the project is expected to create more than 2,400 temporary and permanent jobs.
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Notes: Muncie Logistics Company Bullish on Economy

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Richard Brock, CFO of ISI Logistics in Muncie, believes the economy is headed in the right direction.

“We’re a leading economic indicator,” ISI chief financial officer Richard Brock said regarding the transportation and warehousing industries. “Transportation goes south before everything else goes south and comes back before everything else. Our downturn was in early 2008 and we started coming out of it in late 2009 and that’s continued.”

ISI isn’t sitting back and letting economic recovery from the recession just happen. The logistics company — with offices in Muncie, Kokomo and Texas — is growing.

ISI has grown from 65 employees in January to 95 in recent weeks. And ISI is sharing its good fortune by investing locally: The company is purchasing five trucks from General Truck Sales with a total price tag of $500,000.

Raytheon Technical Services in Indianapolis has landed a $42 million contract from the Defense Department.

Indianapolis and Eli Lilly officials are planning a $155 million mixed-use project near Lilly’s downtown headquarters.

Berry Plastics CEO Ira Boots is retiring in October.

Terre Haute’s new Children’s Museum drew 7,000 visitors on its opening weekend.

Lafayette Company Hiring 600 Starting Today

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Ryla, an Alorica company, today announced the creation of 600 new jobs, to be located at Alorica’s existing Lafayette call center facility, due to expanded customer service needs of one of Ryla’s clients. The new business will provide customer service support for a Fortune 50 company, and allow Alorica to fulfill its commitment of generating at least 600 jobs in the Lafayette community, originally announced in 2009. Hiring to fill the 600 new positions begins September 27, 2010.
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Report: Status of Indiana’s Infrastructure Improving, But Still Poor

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The Indiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released its 2010 Report Card for Indiana’s Infrastructure. The organization gave Indiana a cumulative grade for infrastructure of D+, a slight improvement from the grade of D given in the ASCE’s 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.

The 2010 Report Card examined and graded seven elements to produce its cumulative grade: aviation (C); bridges (C+); dams (D-); drinking water (D+); rail (D+); roads (C-); and wastewater (D-). Among its key findings:

  • More than one in five of Indiana’s 18,483 bridges are considered deficient. The estimated cost of fixing all of them is $3.5 billion.
  • More than 50% of Indiana’s registered dams are in need of remediation. 240 are classified as “high hazard,” and another 249 as “significant hazard.” The cost of fixing these 489 dams was placed at about $180 million.
  • Most of Indiana’s drinking water systems were put in place in the years following World War II and are nearing the end of their useful life. In 2010, Indiana communities submitted $282 million in drinking water projects in competition for just $22 million in available funding.
  • In order to keep pace with projected growth, more than $4.7 billion in rail investment will be needed through 2035.
  • Funding needed to update Indiana’s local roads to current standards is $3.5 billion. State-owned roads will require about $21.8 billion from 2016 to 2030 for maintenance and expansion after the end of the Major Moves program in 2015.
  • In 2009, Indiana communities submitted $1 billion in sewer and wastewater projects competing for only $447 million in available funding.

The complete report can be downloaded here (.pdf).

Notes: Eli Lilly CEO Urges Feds to Do More

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John Lechleiter, CEO of Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, would like to see the federal government do more to foster business growth.

Lechleiter pushed for additional steps, including tax changes, improving math and science education, and making it easier for companies to hire top scientists from other countries.

“Such policies can unleash America’s true capacity for innovation,” Lechleiter said at a daylong conference on innovation clusters sponsored by the Brookings Institution and others. Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected firms and supporting or coordinating organizations.

The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit think tank, contends that clusters produce lasting value in economies, rather than relying on economic bubbles or consumption to drive growth.

Former Lincoln Financial Group veep Todd Stephenson has been named president and CEO of the United Way of Allen County.

Chicago philanthropist Ronald McDaniel is donating $1 million to Richmond’s Earlham College.

A new push to tax internet sales is being launched in Indianapolis.

Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott, Jr. has filed a suit seeking to prevent NIPSCO from raising residential rates more than 16%.

South Bend Airport Traffic Increasing

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August 2010 reports show that total passenger traffic at South Bend Regional Airport (SBN) was up 5.32 percent over August 2009—the first increase since April 2008. Competitive prices, nonstop flights to vacation destinations, hub connectivity, travel agency support, and affordable parking all contribute to the airport’s growing popularity. A total of 55,857 passengers chose to fly through SBN last month.

Nearly every SBN carrier experienced an increase. Allegiant Air, whose passenger totals were up 35 percent, carried 10,803 total passengers for the month. United Express reported a 5.9 percent increase and Delta Air Lines, SBN’s largest carrier, reported serving nearly 28,000 passengers this month, a 3.9 percent increase over August 2009.

Airport officials are cautiously optimistic that the momentum will continue; these increases can be partly attributed to increased capacity at the airport. “With new nonstop flight options such as Phoenix/Mesa and total SBN seat capacity up 5.1 percent, travelers in the Michiana region are seeing additional flight options and more reasons to travel,” said executive director, John Schalliol.

The first phase of the airport’s new 45,000-square-foot concourse expansion is on schedule for completion in November 2010. The terminal will feature five new gates and increased passenger amenities including a full service deli, business center, gift shop, and children’s play area. “We are preparing for an exciting future,” adds Schalliol.

Northeast Indiana Development Organizations to Merge

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The Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council (NIRCC) and Region III-A have announced plans to merge into a single organization, the Northeast Indiana Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Committee.

The merger, which will be effected over the next two months, will facilitate region-wide planning efforts in Northeast Indiana. A priority goal of Vision 2020, a six-month visioning process staffed by the Northeast Indiana Fund, will be realized, as infrastructure planning will be strengthened and better coordinated across county lines throughout the ten-county region. This critical collaboration will also be a key activity in better positioning Northeast Indiana to leverage federal funds.

NIRCC serves as the primary transportation planning organization for the metropolitan area and both NIRCC and Region III-A serve as rural transportation planning organizations for the Federal Highway Administration. Region III-A is designated as an economic development district by U.S. Economic Development Administration. These planning functions and the designation help leverage federal funds for transportation, environmental and economic development projects in the region. NIRCC does the work for DeKalb, Allen, Wells and Adams counties, while Region III-A plans for Steuben, LaGrange, Noble, Whitley, Huntington and Wabash counties.
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Leading Index Slips in August

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After a marginal increase in July, the Leading Index for Indiana (LII) continued the slide that started in April and returned to its lowest point for 2010. The LII is produced each month by the Indiana Business Research Center.

Consistent with movement in the LII, the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index (PCI), which is another economic measure, fell by 1 percent in August after increasing 1.7 percent in July. The PCI’s authors describe the August result as discouraging, but note that the August PCI is still far from double-dip territory.

“Unlike June’s LII, this month’s index did not produce a warning sign for a looming recession,” said Jerry Conover, director of the Indiana Business Research Center at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business. “There are some reasons, therefore, to be hopeful that there will not be a double-dip recession. For example, the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) indicated a growing manufacturing sector for the last 13 months.”
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