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Boone EDC Weekly
Greetings from the Boone EDC,
Welcome to Boone EDC Weekly.
As an organization, the Boone EDC is constantly researching and benchmarking to learn what our competing communities are doing to attract and retain business. Boone EDC Weekly is a compilation of noteworthy National and Indiana news about economic development trends. We will also post information about upcoming conferences, events and webinars that you may find interesting.
Boone EDC Weekly is another tool that you can refer to as a community leader to help Boone County continue to move forward in a positive manner.
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FedEx May Build Facility in Zionsville
The Town of Zionsville is on the brink of bringing in what could be its largest single taxpayer, FedEx.
On Monday night, the Redevelopment Commission approved a series of agreements that would get the ball rolling on a business park to be built on what is known as the Ripberger property, which is 90 acres from 106th Street extending south to Hoosier Village near 96th Street.
The planned 300,000 square-foot FedEx distribution center would be the business park's largest tenant.
Dax Norton, Executive Director of the Boone County Economic Development Corp., would not confirm the name of the tenant since no agreement has been made. "The business park alone would bring in assessed value," Norton said. "This tenant would bring in $40 million in assessed value alone. The tax impact is around $500,000 to $600,000 per year. The tenant has not asked for any tax abatement or (Tax Increment Financing) grants."
Click here to learn more.
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Education and Job Requirements: The Great Mismatch
For a person to get a job, there must be a job opening. Call that Step One. Step Two is that the person applying for said job has the requirements to actually do that job. For many U.S. metropolitan areas, Step Two is the hard part.
There are job openings in the U.S. But the people living near those jobs don't have the relevant education or training to get them, according to a new report out from the Brookings Institution. The report looks at education, job openings and unemployment in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. between January 2006 and February 2012 and finds that the overall unemployment picture in metro areas gets a lot worse when the workforce's educational background doesn't match up with the requirements of employers.
Nationwide, only 24 percent of job openings in 2012 were available to people without at least some post-secondary education. A whopping 43 percent of job openings require a bachelor's degree or more. It's easy to see why, as of May 2012, unemployment among those with a high school diploma or less is six percentage points higher than among those with a bachelor's degree or more.
Click here to learn more.
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100 Leading Locations for 2012
Area Development's Leading Locations have found a way to thrive in the midst of adversity and to prosper while so many places have struggled. More than 9 million jobs vanished during the course of the downturn, and of the 365 MSAs - Metropolitan Statistical Areas - studied here, more than three-quarters still have fewer people working now than they did five years ago. But even amid that gloom, there were blooms of prosperity, and there are some places that have gotten back on their feet faster than others.
This analysis of Leading Locations is informed by two dozen different economic and workforce indicators from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census American Community Survey. It ranks the 365 MSAs in a variety of ways, including an overall ranking that crunches 23 indicators, plus separate rankings of "Prime Workforce Growth," "Economic Strength" and "Recession-Busting" factors.
Indiana Locations in the Rankings
#1 Columbus, IN
#51 Fort Wayne, IN
#91 Lafayette, IN
#93 Louisville/Jefferson County, KY/IN
Click here to learn more.
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Greene County Approves Railroad Expansion
Two Greene County governmental bodies approved a financing plan for an Indiana Rail Road Company project that is part of the Hiawatha Yard expansion project in Jasonville. On Monday afternoon, the Greene County Economic Development Commission passed a resolution that endorses a plan for the Greene County Council to issue revenue bonds and loan the proceeds up to $250,000 to Indiana Rail Road to finance the construction of an oily wastewater treatment system. The plan would also include a sanitary sewage system that includes a lift station to accommodate the collection of surface water and sewage from various points within the locomotion maintenance facility. The total expansion cost was estimated at $750,000. |
"We Are City Summit" Planned for Indy
"We Are City: Summit" is a half-day conference examining national and local issues facing cities. The idea behind the summit is to have the public engage with urban leaders and change-makers to discuss how national and local initiatives can be advanced around themes of "measure," "interpret" and "connect." Examples include the creative use of civic data in Boston, an urban museum of genetically modified organisms in Pittsburgh, and green job creation in Cleveland. These case studies will be discussed in relationship to local projects in Indianapolis, and the presentations will include facilitated audience feedback sessions. "'We Are City' is an effort to build consensus around a variety of topics, to form a shared narrative of our values and vision for Indianapolis," said Michael Kaufmann, director of special projects and civic investment at Health and Hospital Corporation, one of the cofounders and organizers of the event. "The goal is to propel us forward through both an analysis of our past, an acknowledgment of our present and a hope for our future." When: Friday, September 21 Where: Harrison Center for the Arts Time: Noon - 5 p.m. Cost: $20
For more information, call (317) 635-9268 or sign up here.
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Why Keeping Jobs Local Means Good Business
It's no secret that manufacturing jobs are leaving the United States in search of lower costs and lighter regulation. In fact, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the number of manufacturing jobs in this country has declined from approximately 17 million 10 years ago to just 10 million today.
But it's precisely because of this that we are intrigued by companies that are not only still manufacturing in the United States, but are actually expanding their U.S. manufacturing capacity. These companies are either really stupid or really smart -- and there's an investing angle for us regardless of which proves true.
Click here to learn more.
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Support Witham
Meeting your needs can now help Witham Health Services serve the community better. Thanks to a new partnership, proceeds from orders placed on Amazon.com through the Witham Health Services Foundation's website will provide a new source of financial support.
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Meeting Dates
Boone County Commissioners: - September 3 @ 9 a.m. Boone County Council: - September 11 @ 8:30 a.m. Boone County APC: - September 5 @ 7 p.m. Boone County RDC: - September 21 @ 2 p.m. Advance Town Council: - September 10 @ 7 p.m. Jamestown Town Council: - September 4 @ 7 p.m. Lebanon City Council: - September 10 @ 7 p.m. Thorntown Town Council: - September 17 @ 7 p.m. Whitestown Town Council: - September 11 @ 6:30 p.m. Zionsville Town Council: - September 3 @ 7 p.m. Boone EDC Board of Directors: - September 27 @ 4 p.m. Boone EDC Executive Committee:
- September 13 @ 7:30 a.m.
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