Tag: economic development

Radius Indiana introduces small-scale manufacturing program to the region

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 15, 2021) — Radius Indiana and South Central Indiana Small Business Development Center will introduce a program focused on bringing small-scale manufacturing to downtown areas in the Radius region.

Recast City is a national economic development program aimed at building strong local economies and creating new opportunities for community members. The Town of Orleans, Town of Odon, City of Washington, City of Salem, and City of Loogootee will participate in a 12-month Recast City cohort beginning March 16 to learn about downtown revitalization. 

“The Town of Orleans has a beautiful Town Square with several buildings that are empty, and with the Recast programs’ leadership, we hope to find a suitable match with a potential small manufacturing client,” said James Clark, president of the Orleans Town Council. “We look forward to seeing the opportunities and growth Recast City brings to the community.”

The program is made available through cost sharing between Radius and Indiana SBDC. The Indiana SBDC funding is made possible by the Small Business Administration and comes from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which provides financial relief to small businesses affected by the impacts of COVID-19. 

In small-scale manufacturing, a community of businesses works together to produce tangible products that may be sold to customers. The program is aligned to assets in each community, which can support enterprises from a microbrewery, to coffee roastery, to candle making. The program will impact a minimum of four enterprises as the communities implement their strategy to have a small-scale manufacturer in their downtown areas.

According to the SBA, over 99 percent of businesses in Indiana are considered small businesses, and 1.2 million jobs are supported by small businesses.

The Radius region is home to over 6,000 small businesses, approximately 80 percent of all businesses in the eight counties. Small businesses employ over 35,000 workers, accounting for 40 percent of the region’s jobs.

“The Recast City program demonstrates the resiliency that exists within each of the communities in the Radius region,” said Keeley Stingel, vice president of talent attraction and retention for Radius Indiana. “Rural communities are often left out of economic recoveries, and this program is a ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ approach that shows that when we all work together, economic prosperity is possible. We’re excited to see the resulting business enterprises in downtowns throughout the region.”

To learn more about Recast City, visit www.recastcity.com.

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About Radius Indiana: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

Radius Indiana hosts tour of Washington shell building

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 5, 2021) — Radius Indiana introduced local elected officials, community leaders and economic development organizations to the process of building a shell building on Wednesday during a Lunch and Learn event in Washington in partnership with the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. 

Shell buildings are basic structures, built as an economic development investment to attract businesses. Growing companies often choose locations with a shell building because it can be quickly customized to meet the company needs and allows them to get products to market faster versus having to construct a building from the ground up.

“The Lunch and Learn provided a great opportunity for local leaders to find out how a shell building can attract new businesses to their community,” Jeff Quyle, president and CEO of Radius Indiana, said. “It’s good for our counties to share these experiences and lessons so that we can support each other in community developments. The interest and attendance at the event proved that our community members are ready and excited to grow their local economies through new initiatives. If we have multiple available buildings in the region, our chances of attracting more clients will increase dramatically.”

Approximately 40 people, including representatives from each of Radius’s eight counties, attended the event at the Gasthoff Amish Village, which was sponsored by Smithville, the Indiana Municipal Power Agency, AT&T, and CenterPoint Energy. Radius followed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for social distancing to keep all attendees safe. 

“On behalf of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation, I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight our community’s shell building and cross-dock facility as well as explain the process that our local leadership followed to bring the project to fruition,” said Bryant Niehoff, executive director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation. “Our hope is that the event has sparked interest in investing in such projects across the Radius region to advance our competitiveness on a larger scale.”

Dan Zuerner, vice president of Garmong Construction, presented information about Garmong’s history of erecting shell buildings, and what local organizations can expect during the development process. Ron Arnold, Daviess County Commissioner and former executive director of the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation, focused on the lack of available buildings in southern Indiana and the importance of partnerships within the economic development industry.

Chad Sweeney, senior principal of independent economic development leader Ginovous, joined the meeting remotely to discuss the benefits of a shell building to a potential site selector client and the importance of existing buildings in a community.

Susan Vaughn from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation shared statistics of the top trends in project leads for Indiana in 2020, including:  

  • Over 90 project searches were conducted in 2020;
  • More than 50 percent of selectors searching for sites preferred an existing building;
  • Of the requests for an existing building, almost 50 percent of them were interested in a building with between 26,000 and 100,000 square feet.

Yasuhiro Ito, president of M&C Tech, discussed the benefits of locating in Washington and why the community made sense for the automotive industry supplier’s new location. The Japanese-based company was initially drawn to Washington for its shell building but ultimately decided on a different location nearby.

The event ended with a tour of the shell building in Washington. Washington Mayor David Rhoads and former Mayor Joe Wellman joined the group to answer questions about the construction process and the decision process for developing the building.

The 40,000 square foot shell building, which is available for purchase, was completed in 2016 and is located off the Washington exit on Interstate 69. The building has access to rail and a 32-foot ceiling at the eave. Please contact the Daviess County Economic Development Corporation to learn more about the building.

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.

Radius Indiana Visits Chicago for First Site Selector Trip of 2020

Posted on by Radius Indiana

BEDFORD, Ind. (March 16, 2020) — Radius Indiana economic development leaders took information and insights about their southern Indiana region north for a trip to Chicago to meet with site selectors. The session is the first of 2020 and part of Radius’s continued outreach program to raise awareness about the business strengths and opportunities in the eight-county region.

Radius Indiana President and CEO Jeff Quyle was joined by Zach Brown of Orange County,  Shance Sizemore of Lawrence County, and a team from Accelerate West Central Indiana Economic Development. The group met with six sets of site selectors and conversations focused on workforce attraction, development, training, retention activities, and promoting economic development throughout Indiana.

“I didn’t realize the diversity of companies located in Southern Indiana. Our clients are often looking to locate around similar types of industries. The fact that Southern Indiana has large manufacturing, food processing, and nutraceutical companies is exciting for our clients who serve these industries,” said senior manager at RSM, Debbie Singer. 

This is the fourth year Radius Indiana continues its outreach program efforts, with more site selector trips throughout 2020. The organization’s second international trip to Japan will take place this October, and is an opportunity to bring foreign direct investment to the Radius region.

“It’s very rewarding to see how relationships keep building after site selector trips,” said Quyle. “The more that site selectors are able to learn about our region, the better. Collaboration and partnerships lead to success so we are always wanting to grow.”

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ABOUT RADIUS INDIANA: Radius Indiana is a regional economic development partnership representing eight counties in Southern Indiana: Crawford, Daviess, Dubois, Greene, Lawrence, Martin, Orange, and Washington. Formed in 2009, Radius Indiana also serves as a point of contact in Indiana for Naval Support Activity Crane and leads regional collaboration by leveraging the diverse assets of Southwest Central Indiana to drive attraction, retention and expansion of business, thereby increasing employment and investment opportunities and quality of life within the region.