By Brenda Showalter, The Republic Reporter
SHELBYVILLE — City, county and business leaders are hoping to change Shelby County’s reputation as a bedroom community where almost one-third of its population commutes out of the county for work.
They say economic development and the jobs and growth it brings has been stagnant for many years.
“To compete, we need to change,” said Shelbyville Mayor Scott A. Furgeson.
“Things have been done the same for 20 to 25 years.”
Furgeson believes Shelbyville has a new focus on economic development and how important it is.
Those efforts, including the development of a certified technology park in cooperation with Shelbyville Major Hospital, are beginning to show results.
In October, Columbus-based Makuta Technics Inc. announced it was moving to Shelby County, where it will build a new 20,000-square-foot building in the Intelliplex Park, next to Interstate 74.
Makuta has just 16 employees, but the decision to re-locate provided Shelby County with momentum and confidence that it is heading in the right direction.
Dan Theobold, executive director for Shelby County Development Corp., said communities and states are in a competitive environment where everyone must aggressively seek new businesses and work to retain current ones.
Sometimes officials walk a fine line in recruitment efforts.
“We absolutely are competing,” Theobold said. “We’ve beat (other cities) some, and they’ve beaten us some.”
Who wins in the effort to attract businesses depends on several factors.
Theobold said companies seeking new locations look at such information as the county’s labor pool, educational system, location, proximity to an interstate, county and city governments’ attitudes toward business and what economic incentives are offered.
Intelliplex Park
Shelbyville officials consider its new Intelliplex Park one of its strongest recruiting tools.
Robert Carmony, director of marketing for Shelbyville Major Hospital and the technology park, said the hospital saw the importance in becoming an active participant in the county’s economic development efforts.
“Shelbyville has had stagnant growth for a number of years,” Carmony said.
“For the hospital to grow and maintain its technology strategy it is important for the community to grow,” Carmony said.
The high-tech park fit with the hospital’s focus on technology.
Carmony noted that the hospital has been named three times as one of the country’s “100 most wired hospitals.”
“We have a group of people who were very proficient in information technology and wanted to see that extended to the community,” Carmony said.
The hospital entered into a joint project with the city and county and purchased 141 acres at $2.3 million for the land that with improvements was designated as a certified technology park
A technology grant from Purdue University helped develop the area with a fiber optic system.
Since the hospital, city and county have long-range goals to develop the park and advance technology, they do not have the time pressures of a private investor, Carmony said.
“We’re able to offer some pretty lucrative incentives,” Carmony said, noting that Makuta received a reduced cost for the lot they will lease.
Carmony added, however, that the land costs were only one of the reasons Makuta decided to build at the park.
“In my discussions, they were pleased with the technical amenities,” Carmony said.
Shelby officials also plan to break ground at the park soon on a state-of-the-art video conferencing center.
Future plans include having a retail area with stores, restaurants and a hotel for business travelers.
The hospital also has a cancer center at the park on its 30-acre site.
Strategies
Theobold said Shelby County’s economic development efforts include several strategies.
Theobold, a former Shelbyville mayor who served three terms, coordinates much of the work with leadership and guidance from the Shelby Development Corp. Board.
Shelby County also is part of a regional economic group that includes Marion and its surrounding counties.
“They help us recruit industry and help us put together proposals,” Theobold said. “We have to get companies to come to Indiana first.”
Among incentives offered by the city and county are tax abatements and TIF districts.
“I think if you don’t do tax abatements, you don’t have a chance,” said Furgeson about a measure that allows business taxes to be gradually phased to full level after a period of several years.
Shelbyville helped lure retail outlets to the city with the help of TIF districts, which allow redevelopment commissions to funnel new tax money into improvements within the district.
For example, Wal-Mart Supercenter and Kroger are in TIF districts.
Furgeson said economic development is difficult with all communities aggressively seeking new businesses.
Cities cannot, however, forget about their current businesses, the mayor said.
Furgeson learned first hand about the importance of retaining businesses when its largest employer, Knauf Insulation, a fiber insulation company, considered moving its operations to Pennsylvania.
Coming Tuesday: Johnson County.