Posey County scored a much needed economic bonanza this past week when a financial deal for construction of a $1.8 billion fertilizer plant was approved.
The plant, at a site yet to be chosen in rural Posey County, will provide more than 300 permanent jobs and 2,500 construction jobs. An annual payroll of $17.9 million is expected.
No question, the Pakistani fertilizer facility will give a huge boost to the residents of this largely rural county located west of Vanderburgh County.
The more intriguing question — politically at least — is whether the plant will prove a boost to Indiana’s still new governor, Republican Mike Pence.
It should go in Pence’s favor, given that his No. 1 campaign promise last year in his race with Democrat John Gregg was to bring more jobs to Indiana. But then again, there was that yo-yo period when he first dropped his support, and then came back its way just a bit. This past week he changed directions, at least slightly, and said the state would not block Posey County efforts to finance the plant.
Originally, near the end of Gov. Mitch Daniel’s term, the Indiana Finance Authority issued and placed in escrow $1.3 billion in federal disaster bonds as part of a state incentive package to draw the plant to Indiana. However, when Pence took office, he learned that the Pentagon was having issues with the Fatima Group, the Pakistani company behind the developer, Midwest Fertilizer Corp. Some in Washington believed the Pakistani group was not doing enough to keep its fertilizer away from terrorists. Pence promptly froze the deal, and in Ma, said the state was permanently closing its doors on the project. In the meantime, the Pentagon had its own yo-yo, first raising questions and then reporting that the company was making major progress in developing a fertilizer formula less likely to be used in explosive devices. Clearly, concerns about the Pakistani company had eased.
As a result, Posey County officials and economic development personnel in Southwestern Indiana renewed efforts to bring in the plant. This past week, the Posey County Council voted to reissue $1.3 billion in bonds for financing the project and Pence authorized the Indiana Finance Authority to transfer bond money from state control to Posey control. In other words, while not lending direct support to the project, Pence moved to have the state get out of local government’s way.
So give Pence the credit for doing what was necessary for Posey County to land this major employer, while not taking responsibility for bringing the plant to Indiana.
As to that political question, our bet is that in a couple years, when the next governor’s race rolls around, it’ll be an issue. Democrats will be telling us that Pence cannot take credit for the plant, and Pence will beg to disagree.