Chris Della Rocco, Greensburg Daily News
Even though the Decatur County Council meeting was short; it was packed with good news.
Vicki Kellerman of the Economic Development Corporation of Greensburg and Decatur County gave a report about how the area is still in the spotlight of opportunity.
"We are working with a number of businesses, both locally and elsewhere, to help them find what they need to expand or locate in Greensburg and Decatur County," she said.
Because of confidentiality between the EDC and interested parties, no names were disclosed. Instead, only codes were used during the meeting. Included in the discussion was a third party consolidator to Honda. They have discussed plans to locate their company on the Honda site. The company services Honda plants in other states and operates under various names. The party plans to hire around 400 employees in Greensburg. Those employees were reflected in Honda's estimated 2,000 jobs. The name of the company has yet to be determined details about the third party consolidator are still being worked out. The deal is reported to be running smoothly, according to Kellerman.
"We are still in the running for a 'Corvette' plant," said Kellerman stating that Corvette is only a code name. "I cannot tell you who the company is but you will be very proud."
Greensburg is only one of two other site possibilities in Indiana. The company is looking at a few sites in other states as well.
"This has been one of the most intense projects I've ever worked on," she said.
Kellerman also shared with the Council the old HTN-BCA building may be sold this week to a company that buys old buildings and refurbishes them to meet new company's needs. The problem with that building has been the low clearance, she added.
"Put our name out there and everyone wants a piece of the action," said Rheadawn Metz, Council vice president referring to the number of interested businesses.
While there is one problem the EDC faces, other counties would be happy to have a similar dilemma.
"We do not have enough land zoned industrial for the amount of business that wants to come in," Kellerman said.
The EDC is also looking into ways of making the agricultural economy a part of the economic growth. The group is working on a feasibility study for a centralized digester energy plant after touring a facility in Northern Indiana.
"This plant would take care of manure in the county by digesting it for methane which could power as many as 400 homes," she explained. "What is left over can then be used as fertilizer. It's actually very fascinating."
The study will be done for the EDC's Nov. 30 meeting.
"We have a lot of activity going on, but nothing is a guarantee," Kellerman explained.