Indiana Secretary of Commerce David Rosenberg joined JCIDC and friends at our annual Reports Reviews and Rewards Luncheon held in October. He spoke about the many recent successes and how READI is making a difference in the south central region.
We honored Jackie Hill for her 25 years of service to the Workforce Partnership. Under the umbrella of JCIDC, the JCIDC Workforce Partnership was established in 1998 with a goal to bring industry, schools, local elected officials and economic development leaders together to make the county’s employers more competitive.
Trevor Lane received the Elmore-Kilgas award for making a difference in the economic and industrial landscape in Jackson County.
Two Seymour companies made Indiana’s 2023 list of coolest things:
Guardian Bikes Kids Bicycle Guardian Bikes is a company that specializes in designing and manufacturing high-quality, safe and innovative bicycles for children. It’s known for its unique SureStop braking system, which allows kids to stop faster and with more control, reducing the risk of accidents. http://www.guardianbikes.com | Seymour
SpaceGuard Products Centurion Rack Repair Introducing the Centurion, your ultimate rack repair solution. Discover the power of innovation and superior engineering with Centurion, the latest innovation in pallet rack repair. Proudly manufactured right here in Indiana, this exceptional product line includes the Centurion Low Guard, Mid Guard, High Guard and Row Guard, each designed to revolutionize the world of rack repair and protection. Rack repair is a critical process that focuses on rejuvenating damaged pallet rack uprights, the vertical components that form the backbone of industrial storage systems. Instead of the costly and time-consuming task of replacing the entire upright, which necessitates a complete offloading of the rack’s contents, rack repair provides a practical alternative. Innovative solutions like the Centurion restore damaged areas to their original or even greater than original strength. By choosing rack repair over replacement, businesses not only save on costs but also reduce downtime while preserving the efficiency and durability of their storage systems. This ecofriendly approach minimizes waste and contributes to sustainability. Built with heavy-duty design and engineering excellence, the Centurion offers unmatched durability, ensuring your pallet rack remains resilient against the challenges of your industry. These solutions are specifically crafted to repair damage caused by forklifts, trucks, outriggers and more. The Centurion Product Family stands out for its unbeatable adaptability, offering adjustable components that can be tailored to your specific needs. Its versatile design accommodates various hole patterns, a feature that sets it apart from some competitors, simplifying the installation process. http://www.spaceguardproducts.com | Seymour
Developing new neighborhoods. Preparing workers for new and better jobs. Creating an immigrant welcome and resource center. Building an indoor recreation center.
Those and other projects large and small make up the Burkart Opportunity Zone agenda, unveiled this week as the Seymour Brookings Institution-LISC Study team wrapped up more than 10 months of convening, planning and mapping out community needs.
The Inclusive Economic Development Agenda for Seymour offers a road map aimed at turning many of those plans into a reality over the next three years.
Seymour joined Warsaw and Michigan City at the invitation of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. in working with Brookings and the Local Initiatives Support Corp. to develop place-based strategies to span gaps in health, wealth and opportunity.
The Seymour team, comprised of a broad range of people across the community, developed a game plan for improvements in what is called the Burkart Opportunity Zone, an area running along Burkart Boulevard and encompassing the Eastside Industrial Park on the northeast side to Freeman Municipal Airport to the southwest and spaces in between.
Proposals include training the local workforce and adding workforce housing; connecting people to work and play; improving affordable housing options and expanding housing options for a growing population; and creating new places and spaces for recreation and socializing.
Among those projects is a proposed welcome and resource center for new arrivals to the community and a proposal to improve multi-lingual communications. They help tackle a primary aim of the study to better connect Seymour’s growing immigrant population – from Mexico, Central America and elsewhere – to the overall community, thereby moving the entire community forward economically. The city’s population grew from 17,503 in the 2010 census to 21,569 in the 2020 census, due largely to an increase in the Latino/Hispanic population.
“We think these community-based efforts offer wonderful opportunities to bring our growing immigrant community closer to our community overall,” said Ashley Caceres, executive director of Su Casa. Caceres is teaming with Jackson County United Way Executive Maci Baurle to lead efforts on developing a resource center, reducing language barriers and creating a new community space in the Opportunity Zone.
Representatives of the city of Seymour, Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. and the Community Foundation of Jackson County served as the core team working with Brookings, LISC and its consultants, Anderson+Bohlander LLC, bringing more than 20 other community members together over five months of meeting, talking and planning.
The work also included gathering several focus groups, such as employees of Pet Supplies Plus and Aisin USA, the Mayor’s Youth Council and JAG students, a pastors’ roundtable, Seymour Young Professionals, 4-H Juntos members and their families and Margaret R. Brown Elementary School leaders.
“Bringing in those community members, especially through those focus groups, was important to ensuring that we heard from a broad range of people,” said Jackie Hill, director of the Jackson County Industrial Development Corp. Workforce Partnership program. “We wanted to make sure that their voices were heard and reflected.”
Mayor Matt Nicholson is excited for the city to have been included in the process and looks forward to the work that lies ahead.
“Being selected by the state of Indiana for this project has presented us a tremendous opportunity to not only bring many residents to the table to discuss the future of Seymour but also to put plans together to work toward making these changes a reality,” he said.
Forward momentum
Moving from planning to starting and completing projects is important, JCIDC Executive Director Jim Plump added.
“No one wants to be handed another report to toss onto the shelf behind them,” Plump said. “This agenda will be put into play over the next several years, and we hope this will be a springboard for projects when we work on the state’s READI 2.0 project next year.”
Helping ensure that work happens, individuals and entities are stepping up to serve as cheerleaders and project pushers, heading up efforts to keep the momentum moving toward completing the proposed projects, finding funding and checking off the projects as completed.
The core team will continue to meet quarterly and receive updates from project leaders, helping monitor progress and keeping the momentum moving forward.
“Now is a great time for those already involved – and those who have yet to be involved but want to be – to step up, engage in the work and help improve our overall community,” Foundation President & CEO Dan Davis said, adding that while the Brookings-LISC Study narrowed the focus to one primary area of Seymour, the core leadership team and others involved in the process are confident the work so far and the project work to come will help improve all of Seymour and really all of Jackson County.
The overall plans for Seymour, Warsaw and Michigan City are based on the principles of what Brookings and LISC call Community-Centered Economic Inclusion, which builds community wealth within underinvested places by directly engaging with residents; breaking down barriers related to race, income and geography; and connecting to broader economic growth in the region.
The inclusion work has been successfully piloted and expanded in 12 large cities over the past few years, showing progress where some other community investment programs have fallen short. It is now being adapted to small cities, offering a model for data-informed local planning and mobilization that connects places like Michigan City, Seymour and Warsaw and promotes growth within their own counties and neighboring counties.
“It is clear from both data and experience that equity-focused community investment plans can produce sustainable gains that have a positive ripple effect beyond any one project or neighborhood,” said William Taft, senior vice president of economic development with LISC and an Indiana native. “For these three cities, these goals are achievable. They have committed local champions behind them, and they offer great opportunities for investors to empower real community-driven transformation.”
About the study
The project involving Seymour, Warsaw and Michigan City was aimed at exploring how the state can better help smaller communities grow and be more inclusive in economic development.
“Oftentimes, small cities don’t have access to the kind of community development infrastructure that large municipalities do when working to build economic opportunity and align with regional economies,” according to the Indiana Economic Development Corp., which is supporting the three-city effort. “It makes it more difficult to attract the capital and expertise needed to fuel revitalization and growth, and it impacts the well-being of tens of thousands of Indiana families. These three plans directly address those challenges in ways that will have a lasting impact.”
Each community tailored its strategy to its local assets, needs and opportunities.
Together, their plans shared many common goals, such as expanding career pathways to high-quality jobs, building and preserving affordable housing and transforming distressed or underutilized land into vibrant commercial facilities and public space for arts and recreation.
“The well-being of our cities and our nation depends on creating equitable landscapes of opportunity where more people, small businesses and places can thrive,” said Hanna Love, a senior research associate at Brookings. “CCEI provides local leaders with the tools to lay the groundwork for a strong and healthy future and to do so in a way that is accountable to communities that have for too long been denied the chance to thrive.”
Agenda action tasks
Enhance career pathways and build small businesses: Train existing workers for advancement and encourage small business growth through entrepreneur support.
Welcome new immigrants: Develop an immigrant welcome or resource center, strengthen multilingual communications and create a community space on the south side.
Connect people to work and play: Fill in the gaps and expand the city’s trail system and create a new master plan for parks.
Improve affordable living options: Improve residential and apartment conditions and develop new, affordable train-side communities.
Expand housing options for a growing population: Create what is tentatively called Freeman Village, a new neighborhood, and support first-time homebuyers.
Create new places for recreation and socializing: Build a new indoor recreation facility and cultivate third-places through creative place making.
Local and Walmart company officials shared news July 10th of significant investment planned at Walmart Distribution Center in Seymour. During a city council meeting, Jim Plump, JCIDC executive director, spoke on behalf of Walmart to announce a $107 million investment at the distribution center on Seymour’s far east side.
The council unanimously approved the statement of benefits for personal property tax abatement ($101 million for supply chain material handling equipment and $2 million in IT (hardware and software) equipment and one real estate improvement tax abatement ($5 million for construction-related costs associated with supply chain enhancements. The council also approved resolutions for the two tax abatements, which are for 10 years apiece. Plump was joined at the meeting by Kevin Porter, senior manager for the Walmart tax department at the company’s home office in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Mike Baecke, general manager for the Regional Distribution Center in Seymour.
“Walmart’s Seymour distribution center has been a pillar in our community for over 30 years. Adding robotics, automation and AI-powered software systems to this facility will revolutionize an already impressive operation, fundamentally changing the way we distribute products to stores,” Baecke said in a news release. “This isn’t just an investment in our facility but also in our associates, our community and our future.
Seven industries and Schneck Medical Center opened their doors to 22 Jackson County educators in June giving them the opportunity to tour and engage in discussion with company personnel learning about what happens in these facilities, opportunities available, and the skill set requirements. From their experience, educators are asked to submit a one or two page report on how they plan to bring back what they learned to their classroom. “It was beyond comforting and reassuring to hear that employers place the same emphasis and importance on societal norms as schools do,” said Brittany Neal, BCHS Algebra/Geometry teacher. “Not only are we trying to develop students that can focus and work efficiently, but we are shaping them to work safely and respectfully with their colleagues in the future!” In addition to Schneck Medical Center, participating companies were Valeo, Guardian Bikes, Pet Supplies Plus, Aisin USA, Wal Mart Distribution, Aisin Drivetrain, and Seymour Engine Plant.
For the majority of students, school is out and summer vacation has begun. But for some students during the first two weeks of June, the classroom doors were open to robotics.
Shawn Mahoney spearheaded week long camps for 62 elementary, middle, and high school students in Seymour. This was the sixth year for this event and this summer focused on the upcoming VEX competition game challenge that will be in place for the 2023-24 school year. Amy Miller, team lead for the middle school and high school teams, assisted with the camps and has been heavily engaged in robotics and instrumental in seeing the energy and excitement continue for students wanting to continue the challenge into high school and careers beyond.
Looking ahead to the 2023-24 school year, Jackson County is projected to have 16 elementary and middle school programs along with 3 high school programs.
“JCIDC has been a leader and partner for Jackson County robotics,” said Jackie Hill, JCIDC Workforce Partnership Director. “It has been rewarding to watch these students work as teams to program and operate their robots all the way to the competition level in navigating the VEX challenge for the year….can’t wait to see what is in store for this upcoming year.”
