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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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LaGrange County Approves Funding For Shell Building
Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
LaGrange County Commissioners and the LaGrange County Council have approved using tax-increment financing to help support the construction of a shell building in Fawn River Industrial Park.
The shell structure, expected to cost $3.5 million, will be built by Terre Haute-based Garmong Construction Services and will be used to attract a business to the industrial park just south of the Indiana Toll Road.
The precast concrete shell with high ceilings will encompass 75,000 square feet and could be expanded to 150,000 square feet.
Garmong is expected to pay for the shell building's construction. The tax-increment financing will be used to pay interest on the project.
"This will give LaGrange County and our northeast Indiana region a huge competitive advantage when competing for business development projects," said Keith Gillenwater, executive director of the LaGrange County Economic Development Corp. "There are very few available buildings that meet these modern design specifications, not only in Indiana, but in the Midwest."
Click here to learn more.
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Exec Issues Challenge For NWI to Join Regional Economic Development Effort
Times of Northwest Indiana - Lu Ann Franklin
Establishing networks between communities from Gary through Chicago to Milwaukee, incubating technology businesses and leveraging core assets and unique infrastructure will create a Midwestern version of Silicon Valley and ignite an economic boom heard around the world.
Edmon Lighthall, director of marketplace development for the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, brought what he called a "go big" message about "Garyland" to Monday's Gary Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
A 20-year veteran of managing large corporations and nonprofits, Lighthall said this explosion of growth is only possible if stakeholders work toward common goals."If it's just about us four, it's going no where," he said. "The challenge in economic development is that everybody's working for themselves. If you lose the big picture going for your little piece, you hurt the big economy."
Creating a regional approach to growing business is being done in New York, Boston and Los Angeles, Lighthall said."As a region, Chicago and Gary are the same," he said. "To me and my friends, this is Chicago's south side. The factors that make Chicago work are the same here."
Click here to learn more.
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Youth Movement Vital for Ferdinand and Jasper
Herald - John Seasly
The Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness program is a statewide initiative that Ferdinand launched in 2008 and Jasper became involved with last year. The program is designed to help rural communities develop their strengths and improve the quality of life of their citizens. Each program is divided into "pillars" of focus, such as leadership, entrepreneurship, family and tourism.
The main emphasis of Wednesday night's conversation at the Huntingburg Event Center was on the youth - how to keep high school students interested in the community and how to attract and retain young professionals in their 20s and early 30s.
Surveys conducted by the Jasper youth pillar showed that most young people don't plan to come back to the area when they leave for college, and they don't think they have opportunities here. Students said they are bored, and lack entertainment. Young people also think they could make more money living in areas other than Jasper.
Allison Baer, chairwoman of the Jasper youth pillar, is working on some ideas to change these perceptions. These ideas include a career day at Jasper High School, a battle of the bands event on the Jasper Riverwalk and an open mic night or coffeehouse event once a month. She stressed the need for an online calendar that could promote local events.
Click here to learn more.
Indiana HomeTown Competitiveness
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How Millennials Move: The Car-Less Trends
The National Association of Realtors - G.M. FIlisko With drastically different views of transportation from those of the generations that came before them, millennials are transforming communities and the developments that shape them. The still-unanswered question is whether that's a short-term or a permanent transformation. Millennials own fewer cars and drive less than their predecessors. They'd rather walk, bike, car-share, and use public transportation - and want to live where that's all easy. Jarret Izzo senses his views on transportation are common among his compatriots in the millennial generation. "There's definitely a continuum, and I probably bike more than most," says the 26-year-old Boston marketer. "But for a lot of people, some combination of biking, walking, using a car-sharing service, and public transit is very doable. Many of my lifestyle decisions are based on not having a car any time soon." With drastically different views of transportation from those of the generations that came before them, millennials like Izzo are transforming communities and the developments that shape them. The still-unanswered question is whether that's a short-term or a permanent transformation. Click here to learn more. |
Zionsville Schools, Town Planning Development Partnership
Inside Indiana Business Zionsville Community Schools and the Town of Zionsville are moving forward on a unique partnership to create economic development opportunities and reduce the community's residential tax burden while creating a new revenue source for reducing the school district's debt.
If the agreement is approved by both boards, Zionsville Community Schools will use funds remaining from the 2005 bond issue, as well as interest and project savings, to purchase approximately 126 acres of land at 106th St. Parkway east of Zionsville Road from Dow Chemical Company for $5.7 million. These funds can only be used for the purpose for which they were originally intended and have been held in savings since the bond issue. The school district will keep approximately 10 acres to build a warehouse and maintenance facility as they had intended to do in 2005 when the funds were bonded. The project was deferred to a later time until economic conditions improved and a suitable site was found.
The Town of Zionsville will take title to the remaining property and subdivide it for commercial development. The Town of Zionsville will install the necessary underground utilities for all of the property and make installment payments on its portion of the property to Zionsville Community Schools for the development land.
Click here to learn more. |
Mixed-Use 2.0: The Office Building of the Future
The CoStar Group - Mark Heschmeyer Social forces and advances in communications technology are driving changes in how and where people work. Corner offices and cubicles are giving way to a kind of 'Mixed-Use 2.0' - workspaces that are infinitely flexible, with options for focused, individual work and also fully equipped to support collaborative groups, team projects and social interaction.
That's the vision presented by the four respected architects selected in NAIOP's inaugural Office Building of the Future design competition. Judges evaluated the design submissions from earlier this year and selected concepts they felt promoted the most efficient and welcoming environments and met space utilization trends of the future. The winners were: Hickok Cole Architects; Gensler; The Miller Hull Partnership; and Pickard Chilton. The winning designers identified several common themes that could drive changes in how we "office" in 2020. Perhaps the biggest driver for change is personal technology, which has untethered workers from their office, enhancing efficiecies by providing the capability of completing service and information-based tasks from wherever they choose. An individual with a laptop can work from home, or at a wi-fi equipped location, or even on the road using the latest wireless 'puck' devices.
The office building of the future will also be expected to be more affordable to build and operate, thanks to advances and cost reductions in construction materials and systems. Also, a greater degree of sustainability will be attainable and become more financially feasible. Net-zero buildings will meet the corporate demands of tenants as well as the improved building performance sought by building owners and developers.
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Video Blog
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Meeting Dates
Boone County Commissioners: - November 19 @ 9 a.m. Boone County Council: - December 11 @ 8:30 a.m. Boone County APC: - December 5 @ 7 p.m. Boone County RDC: - December 21 @ 2 p.m. Advance Town Council: - December 10 @ 7 p.m. Jamestown Town Council: - December 4 @ 7 p.m. Lebanon City Council: - November 26 @ 7 p.m. Thorntown Town Council: - November 19 @ 7 p.m. Whitestown Town Council: - December 11 @ 6:30 p.m. Zionsville Town Council: - December 3 @ 7 p.m. Boone EDC Board of Directors: - December 20 @ 4 p.m. Boone EDC Executive Committee:
- December 13 @ 7:30 a.m.
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