PETERSBURG — Pike County is planning for a future that involves thousands of acres around Interstate 69.
Last week, the Pike County Economic Development Corp. and Bowman Family Holdings, the owner of the 8,000-acre Southwest Indiana Megasite, released the Pike County I-69 Interchange Master Plan.
The project creates a plan for 4,000 acres of development, some of which are included in the megasite.
With the plan, Pike County hopes to attract residential, retail and industrial development.
“Over the past two years we have worked hard to plan and develop partnerships that position Pike County in a competitive and advantageous position for economic growth,” PCEDC Board President Jon Craig said in a press release. “We will use this master plan to aggressively market our sites to a national and global audience.”
Ashley Willis, executive director of PCEDC, said Pike County’s partnership with Bowman Family Holdings offers a unique opportunity for potential developers because Bowman Family Holdings is willing to partner with interested parties to provide equity investments, joint ventures, capital investments, leases, land sales and more.
“We believe Pike County is ideally positioned along the I-69 corridor and is the perfect location for large scale capital investments,” Bowman Family Holdings’ John Mandabach said in a press release. “The master plan represents a concerted effort from our local officials and the business community to aggressively attract investment to our community and bring generational development to southwest Indiana.”
In addition to the megasite, Bowman Family Properties owns Solar Sources Mining, a coal mining operation.
The area along Interstate 69 is the main focus for the PCEDC, Willis said, and the organization hopes that the area’s proximity to the interstate and the railroad system will attract businesses in the agribusiness, manufacturing, warehousing and coal industries, specifically.
So far, it looks promising.
“We have had a lot of interest at our sites along the rail line,” Willis said.
The PCEDC has plans for a development of its own along the corridor as well.
This summer, construction will begin on the $1.3 million Entrepreneurship and Technology Center of Pike County. The center will offer space for trainings, business incubation and work space for local entrepreneurs.
PCEDC received a $787,000 grant from the U.S. government’s Economic Development Administration to help with the construction.
“(The center) should be the first thing to flourish along our I-69 corridor,” Willis said.
Willis pointed out that while the area boasts a lot of land opportunities, the development will happen gradually. People should not expect an influx of development overnight.