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Johnson County Growth - News of Interest

Tax Firm Moves Operations to Greenwood

Hull & Knarr LLP moved its Columbus headquarters to 521 E. County Line Road, Suite A, near Greenwood Municipal Airport, earlier this month.

The firm specializes in determining whether companies are eligible for state or federal credit, reductions in property taxes or money-saving tax exemptions. Officials decided to move the firm to central Indiana because the company outgrew its Columbus office and they felt Greenwood is a better location.

Hull & Knarr focuses solely on helping companies with specialty taxes that many local and regional accounting firms don’t have the resources or expertise to offer. Smaller, privately owned firms don’t tend to specialize in all of the same services as Hull & Knarr, said Larry Shaub, of Shaub CPA Group in Greenwood.

Hundreds of clients with annual revenues ranging from $3 million to $500 million have turned to the company and its partners for tax consultation, with more than 100 new clients gained in 2004 alone.

Often, businesses don’t realize they’re eligible for certain tax savings or credits. Hull & Knarr found that Zipp Speed Weaponry of Speedway, a designer and manufacturer of products used in global bicycle and wheelchair racing, could have earned $48,000 of federal and state credit over three tax years for its efforts to reinvent the wheels it manufactures.

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Greenwood warehouse to bring 250 jobs to city

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Chicago Company Acquires Property in Greenwood Business Park

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Franklin Plastics bounces back after tough times

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Center Could Bring 250 Jobs

By Jason Michael White and Michael W. Hoskins, Daily Journal staff writers
A national organic-food supplier wants to open a new distribution center in Greenwood that would bring as many as 250 jobs to the city’s east side. United Natural Foods Inc., based in Connecticut, wants to open a Midwest distribution hub inside an existing building that has been vacant and unfinished for about two years.

“We’re very excited about it,” Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson said. “This means a lot of good-paying jobs coming to the city, and that’s a better job-market scenario than we’ve seen.”

Based in Dayville, Conn., United Natural Foods is a distributor of natural foods, nutritional supplements and personal-care items, according to its Web site.
The company supplies more than 18,000 customers in the United States. Distribution centers ship to retail centers, including chains, independent product retailers, supermarkets and food stores.

The company has about 17 locations scattered across the United States, its Web site said. A Greenwood operation would be the company’s first distribution center in Indiana.
United Natural Foods has filed plans with the city for a 307,000- square-foot distribution center, which would be opened inside a building on 26.57 acres in the Precedent South Business Center. The building was constructed about two years ago but never completed to accommodate future occupants.

The site would be used as the company’s Midwest distribution site, serving customers in several states, according to company plans.
Company officials expect to start operations by June and spend $8.3 million in improving the site, documents show.

The national company wants to build a 30,000-plus-square-foot addition to the structure already in place, which will be used as freezer space, its plans said.
United Natural Foods is negotiating to buy the property and remains tightlipped about the number of jobs or what workers will do, said Thomas Dziki, the company’s vice president of special projects.

Henderson and Johnson County Development Corp. of the Johnson County Development Corp. both confirmed the company has proposed 250 jobs, with an average pay of $17 an hour.

Greenwood’s building commissioner, Lowell Weber, said he’d heard that 100 jobs would be added once the building opens, and then the remaining jobs would come later.

High-paying jobs are another piece of good news for Johnson County, which has been battered in the past year with more than 1,400 layoffs from cutbacks and plant shutdowns.
United Natural Foods is one of several companies that have focused on expanding or opening in the county in recent months, giving some sign of relief for those affected by the job losses.

United Natural Foods has been working to design the distribution center for about a month and wants to open as soon as possible, according to Donna Smithers, the design agent who submitted site plans for the company.

“We’ve been working on a pretty quick timeline,” Smithers said. “They’d like to start as soon as possible.”

The company had originally wanted to get building permits by Oct. 15, although that timeline has been moved back, Weber said.

The company is asking for a 10-year tax break that would allow it to pay a reduced property tax bill during the early years of the project. The estimated tax amount is about $1.5 million in taxes, city forms show.

Henderson said he hopes the city grants the abatement so the company can continue development plans in Greenwood.
Greenwood’s plan commission will review site plans for the distribution center at 7 p.m. Monday at the Greenwood City Building, 2 N. Madison Ave.

About the company:
United Natural Foods is a distributor of natural foods, nutritional supplements and personal-care items, according to the company Web site. The company supplies more than 18,000 customers in the United States, the site said. Distribution centers ship to retail centers, including large natural-food chains, independent natural product retailers, supermarkets and food stores.

The company has about 17 locations around the country and is based in Dayville, Conn.
In 2003, the company’s sales hit $1.4 billion, a 17 percent increase from the previous year. The company is publicly traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol UNFI.

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Franklin College gets $1M Lilly grant

By Ryan Moore, Daily Journal staff writer
Franklin College will receive a $1 million Lilly Endowment grant to create a new honors program that encourages students to study abroad.

The grant money will go toward scholarships to pay for students’ travel and educational costs when studying overseas, Franklin College President James “Jay” Moseley said.
Lilly’s grant will help Franklin College start its Intercultural Honors Experience program next fall, a program that targets primarily freshmen, Moseley said.

Freshmen enrolled in the program will take an intercultural learning course during winter term and a seminar focusing on international issues during the spring, he said.
The students will then use the knowledge learned in those courses to study in a foreign country during their sophomore or junior year, Moseley said.

Franklin College currently offers study-abroad opportunities in Norway, Austria, Hong Kong and Ireland that last for a semester. Until now, though, students were responsible for most of the travel and living expenses, Moseley said.
The grant money will change that, he said.

“I think (the grant money) provides a new incentive for students who have wanted to study abroad but didn’t think they could afford to do so,” Moseley said.
Typically, three or four Franklin students study overseas each semester, said David Brailow, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. That number will likely increase to about 10 students in the next few years, he said.

About 997 students are currently enrolled at Franklin College. Moseley said living and studying in another country will benefit students when they enter the workforce, since in many businesses, employees must work with people of various nationalities and backgrounds.

“Young people have a natural tendency to think that everyone sees the world the same way they do,” Moseley said. “The best way to get them out of that thinking is for them to see other parts of the world so they can appreciate and understand other perspectives.”

Moseley remembered his days as a college student when he had the opportunity to study for a semester in Great Britain. While the California native didn’t experience much of a language barrier visiting Britain, he did experience other differences in the culture’s personalities, customs and government.

“I came back realizing that the world is not just a mirror of ourselves,” Moseley said. “We’re a small part of a greater community.”

The college will receive the $1 million in October. Last year, Lilly gave a $750,000 grant to the college to help create career development courses for its students.

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Distribution Firm Could Join Plant in Greenwood

By Ryan Moore, Daily Journal staff writer
An Indianapolis distribution company is planning to relocate to Greenwood with a new $2.15 million facility.

Indianapolis-based Nachi America wants to move next to its brother company, Nachi Technology, at 713 Pushville Road in Greenwood.

Both companies are branches of Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp., a machine parts maker and distributor with headquarters in Japan.

If built, the new facility would have a warehouse that would store products and house company offices for Nachi America’s 24 employees.

The proposed Nachi America building would cover 66,000 square feet, adding to the 160,000-square-foot Nachi Technology facility, according to Jay Campbell, operations manager for Nachi America.

Greenwood’s Nachi Technology acts as the manufacturing unit for its parent company, employing 110 people, said Dan Nebesio, vice president of operations. The facility had previous expansions in 1995 and 2000, Nebesio said.

Nachi America, now at 5002 W. 79th St. in Indianapolis, is responsible for product distribution and sales.

A move to Greenwood would improve business operations for both companies, Campbell and Nebesio said.

Greenwood’s economic development commission gave preliminary approval to a 10-year tax break for the proposed facility Wednesday evening.

Final approval for constructing the new building must come from the city council, said Frank Fyfee, a member of the economic development commission.

Nebesio and Campbell want construction to begin by Nov. 1, with the facility opening by May.

Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp. manufactures and markets ball bearings for automobile air conditioners, serving automakers such as General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Nachi also manufactures precision cutting tools and hydraulic equipment.

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County has 4 Four Star Schools

By JO ELLEN WERKING WEEDMAN, Daily Journal staff writer
Four Johnson County schools were awarded the state’s highest honor for test scores and attendance rates.

Sugar Grove Elementary, Center Grove Middle, Creekside Elementary and Westwood Elementary schools were named Four Star schools by the Indiana Department of Education on Tuesday.

Each year, the state presents the awards to schools that perform in the top 25 percent of all Indiana schools in the following categories: attendance rate, the percentage of students who pass the math section of the ISTEP test, the percentage of students who pass the test’s language arts section and the percentage of students who pass both sections.
This year, 147 schools were named Four Star schools. The awards were based on data from the 2002-03 school year.

Center Grove Middle School was named a Four Star school for at least the second time. The designation is for the final year the district had just one middle school. Sugar Grove Elementary School also was given the award for the second time.

Both schools have focused on writing and problem-solving in all their classes, including courses such as art and physical education, school officials said.

Students at the middle school are divided into teams and given topics to write about, said Jack Parker, principal at Center Grove Middle School Central. For instance, students write letters to the principal about issues that interest them, such as the dress code.

Understanding exactly what the state wants students to know has helped teachers better prepare students for the ISTEP, according to principals.

Since the state explained exactly what standards will be tested on the ISTEP, teachers have to outline how they’re meeting the standards for each activity, including field trips, said Harriet Henry, principal at Creekside.

This is the first year the Franklin school has been named a Four Star school.
A program designed to help students take responsibility for their own education also has raised Creekside’s test scores, Henry said.

Each year, students put together a portfolio of their work and test scores and then lead conferences about their progress with their teacher and parents at the end of the year.

“We have found that students are taking more ownership in their work,” Henry said. “Schools have to become learning communities, not just teaching communities.”

Schools also have added other tests that predict how students will perform on the ISTEP. Students are tested in the fall and spring, and teachers can see what areas they need more help with before they take the ISTEP.

Greenwood school officials were not available Tuesday for comment on Westwood’s award.
Celebration planning is going on at the schools. Henry already has commissioned a new banner to hang in Creekside’s entryway, and parents at Sugar Grove are planning a yo-yo extravaganza in coming weeks.

The annual Four Star designation does not include a cash prize. Schools must be fully accredited by the Indiana State Board of Education and must meet adequate yearly progress as defined by the federal education law, No Child Left Behind, to be eligible for consideration.
Portions © 2004 The Daily Journal, Johnson County, Indiana.

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Trucking company adding jobs

By BLYTHE RICHARDS
Daily Journal staff writer
A trucking freight company on Greenwood’s east side is hiring more employees because of an increase in business.

USF Holland delivers retail, manufacturing and agricultural supplies to industries in the Midwest and Southeast, Mexico and parts of Canada. The company, located in Greenwood since 2000, hired 53 new employees in the past two months. Company officials say they plan to fill up to 20 more positions as the company continues to grow locally and nationwide.

With 375 employees making 3,000 deliveries each day, USF Holland is one of the largest industrial employers in Johnson County. The 2004 list of industries from the Johnson County Development Corp. shows the other largest employers are Best Buy with 750 employees, Davidson Industries with 400, KYB Industries with 450, Lear Corp. with 454 and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Climate Control with 400.

USF Holland wants to fill 12 to 20 local driver positions. The drivers will deliver supplies such as chemicals and manufacturing materials to businesses in sections of the state from Kokomo to North Vernon.

Positions that recently were filled include 26 long-distance drivers, 16 part-time freight handlers, seven local drivers, two office clerks, one supervisor and one account executive.

Out of the 53 new employees, 37 are full-time positions. Employees are paid a little more than $20 an hour, office manager Sheilah Smith said.

An increasing demand for deliveries to retail, agricultural or manufacturing industries, due to an improving economy, has created a need for more workers, office officials said.
When business is good for manufacturers and suppliers, USF Holland grows as drivers make more deliveries, Smith said.

“I’m excited that (USF) Holland and some of the other businesses in that area are expanding,” Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson said. The company first opened at 1235 Terminal Road in Indianapolis in 1989. A need for a bigger facility forced USF Holland to move to its current location in Greenwood four years ago.

The Greenwood terminal is one of 58 scattered across the U.S., terminal manager Brian Lomax said.

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Two firms showing interest in Franklin

By MICHAEL W. HOSKINS
Daily Journal staff writer
An automotive-parts manufacturer and a frozen-food distributor want to build two centers in Franklin that would bring 115 new jobs to the city’s growing east side.
Both automotive supplier Aisin USA Manufacturing and frozen-food distributor the Tippmann Group are asking city officials for tax breaks on distribution centers planned for the Franklin Tech Park.

Located east of Interstate 65 near State Road 44, the 260-acre industrial area has been under construction since spring 2003 and is the cornerstone of the city’s hopes to jumpstart Franklin’s long-dormant east side.

The two companies are the first to seriously consider moving to the business park but are waiting for a decision on tax breaks before moving ahead.

“This is a big first step,” said Harry “Mac” McNaught, president of developer Denison Properties. “Having these companies commit to Johnson County would be dynamite for the economy.”

The Tippmann Group is based in Fort Wayne and distributes refrigerated and frozen-food products, such as pizza, turkeys, lobster and ice cream.

“(We distribute) everything you buy in the grocery store and never think of where it actually comes from,” said Jeff Hastings, the company’s chief financial officer. “We’re one of the largest industries in the country.”

Hastings did not want to elaborate on exact details of the development, but paperwork filed with Franklin’s planning department outlined the company’s proposal.

The Tippmann Group plans to build a 450,000-square-foot facility. The $33 million project would be split into three phases, with 25 workers being hired in each phase. Wages for the 75 employees would average $16.83 an hour, according to documents filed with the city.

Franklin was attractive to Tippmann because of the proximity to an existing Tippmann facility 20 miles north in Indianapolis and the county’s reputation for offering tax breaks for companies, Hastings said.

Officials with Aisin also have said that accessibility from both I-65 and State Road 44 played a part in the decision to locate in Franklin.

The company wants to open a 134,000-square-foot distribution center and 3,720-square-foot office space inside the business park and create 40 jobs averaging $19.23 an hour.
Aisin USA is one division of an international automotive supplier that makes parts for vehicle door frames, roofs, latching systems, brakes, engines, seating and trim molding.
Owned by Japanese parent company the Aisin Group, Aisin USA operates 13 manufacturing plants throughout the country, company officials say.

The company currently has two locations in the Midwest: a manufacturing plant and logistics facility in Seymour and another manufacturing operation in Marion, Ill.
Both companies are asking city officials for tax breaks to build the new facilities in the Franklin Tech Park.

The Tippmann Group’s request is for a 10-year tax break on each phase of its $33 million project, totaling 30 years of tax breaks for the company. Aisin also wants a 10-year tax break on its proposed $4 million distribution center and office building.

The tax abatements each company is requesting forgive a portion the property tax burden during the early years of expansion or a new construction project, such as these developments.

Under Mayor Norman Blankenship’s administration, the city has in recent years approved more tax breaks for businesses to help boost the city’s tax base and economic picture than under former Franklin mayor Herschel Cook’s leadership.

Franklin’s economic development commission approved both tax breaks Tuesday and forwarded them to the city council with a favorable recommendation. The city council, which makes the final decision, will consider the tax breaks at its July 26 meeting.

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Businesses Rising From the Ashes

By LEAH SNYDER, Daily Journal staff writer
Jeff Smith hopes to eventually view the fire that destroyed his business as an opportunity.
In March 2003, he watched Electro-Spec, which does metal plating of electronic components for the telecommunications, aerospace and defense industries, burn to the ground in four hours. He had to lay off 28 employees while trying to retain a nationwide customer base.

Finally, 15 months and $5 million later, business is returning to normal. But day-to-day operations at the Franklin factory aren’t the same. The new building on RJ Parkway is 5,000 square feet larger than the old facility on Earlywood Drive and now contains European-made, fully automated plating equipment.

“This is our opportunity to go back with the most ideal state-of-the-art facilities,” said Smith, the president of Electro-Spec.

The new equipment puts Electro-Spec ahead of most competition, with only one other U.S.-based company in Los Angeles having similar machinery, Smith said.

Electro-Spec is one of three Johnson County businesses that suffered setbacks when fire ravaged the entire facility, production space or inventory from March to December 2003. Two of the blazes were accidental, but police are still investigating what they believe was an arson devised to cover up a burglary at a Greenwood business.

Months later, all three businesses are open and still have Johnson County addresses. They relied on insurance payouts, employees, hard work and dedication to start production.

“Let’s do everything we’ve always wanted to do and couldn’t do before,” Smith said. “Let’s make a good thing out of a bad thing.”

Even though the company experienced a loss of production after faulty electrical equipment started the blaze — which was fueled by hazardous chemicals that also hampered firefighting efforts — Smith was able to retain the company’s top 25 customers, which represent 70 percent of the business’s revenue.

Rebuilding cost the company $5 million. Insurance provided $1.5 million, but loans from the Small Business Administration and KeyBank helped in the reconstruction process. In November, Franklin granted Electro-Spec a tax abatement on its new equipment, meaning the company will pay a reduced property-tax bill on the new machinery in upcoming years.

Without the city’s help, Smith said he wouldn’t have been able to come back. Twenty of the company’s 48 people were laid off just after the fire, but Smith has since hired five people and is looking for more. He’s also started paying back loans.

“It’s been an interesting year,” Smith said. “It’s amazing where we’re at now compared to where we were a year ago.”

Grimmer Industries
Less than a year ago, employees at Grimmer Industries had their schedules cut because lightning struck the warehouse of the Franklin business. Now, most of the employees are putting in overtime.

The Franklin-based air and natural gas compression manufacturer has retained most of its customers, has bought equipment from foreign companies and employs 55. The lightning strike on Aug. 9 started a fire in the 15,000-square-foot warehouse on Hurricane Road, destroying most of the company’s inventory. The blaze caused $3 million in damage. But no one was injured, and the main office and company files were saved.

The fire claimed most of the production inventory, more than 2,000 separate kinds of parts that are custom made by manufacturers in Germany and Japan. Employees salvaged enough material to continue filling orders at about 55 percent of the usual rate in August, but production workers’ hours were cut temporarily.

Six months later, employees were back to work in the rebuilt and expanded warehouse, company founder John Grimmer Sr. said.

Grimmer, now retired, founded the company in Texas in the late 1960s and moved it to Franklin in 1972. He and his five sons own the company.

Sanjo Steel
Police have at least one suspect in the December arson fire at a Greenwood steel fabricating plant. Detectives believe a burglar started a blaze at Sanjo Steel to cover up the crime. Fire charred the second and third stories of the limestone office area of the plant at 610 W. Main St. But the corrugated metal portion of the building, the manufacturing shop, was largely untouched.

The fire caused $500,000 in damage. Police and company officials have pinpointed items that had been removed from the business by the burglar, but Greenwood police Detective Doug Roller wouldn’t elaborate.

“It still mystifies me that someone could do something like that,” Sanjo co-owner Gary Pugh said.
On Dec. 29, a passer-by noticed smoke coming from the offices. The fire began in the shipping and receiving department in the basement, and the offices were destroyed.

“It rose through the building and went through the roof,” Pugh said.

Since the production area wasn’t damaged, the company could continue manufacturing products for its clients, Pugh said. Offices were moved to a temporary location at 500 S. Polk St. in Greenwood, he said. The company has since rebuilt and moved back to the original offices.

The company contacted major clients and notified them they were still open and would continue production. Because the fire occurred while most employees were off for the holidays, the company had time to reorganize itself to prepare for the new year.
If a suspect is eventually arrested, he or she could face a Class B felony charge of arson. A conviction would carry a six- to 20-year prison sentence.

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I-69 Office Opens

By BLYTHE RICHARDS, Daily Journal staff writer
State transportation officials are moving their offices into communities near the future Interstate 69 path as they begin the next phase of the project: determining the exact path of the roadway from Indianapolis to Evansville.

An Indiana Department of Transportation office opened in Perry Township on Friday, and field workers will begin examining homes, businesses and natural habitats that could be affected by the highway project.

The office is one of six that will serve a section along the extension route to Evansville. The opening of these offices takes the project into its next phase: determining the highway’s environmental impact, and where the interchanges and overpasses will be located. The purpose of the extension is to provide drivers with a direct route between Indianapolis and Evansville.

State officials first considered 14 different routes and then chose the route that follows State Road 37 from Indianapolis to Bloomington and State Road 57 from Bloomington to Interstate 64 near Evansville.

The Federal Highway Administration on March 29 endorsed the state’s preferred route for the extension. INDOT has said construction of the 142-mile route could be completed in eight to 14 years and is expected to cost $1.78 billion.

Johnson County residents and government leaders have offered mixed responses about the route, which runs through White River Township.

Those working at the Perry Township office are trying to determine the exact alignment of the stretch of new interstate from Indianapolis to Martinsville.

In Johnson County, the extension will follow State Road 37 in White River Township. INDOT is opening the local offices to place the people working on the project in the communities that will be affected, Perry Township office operator Timothy Miller said.Residents and business owners will now be able to go to the office to voice their opinions about the project and learn about INDOT’s plans first-hand, said Miller, who is a project manager for HNTB architecture company in Indianapolis.

Miller was contracted by the state agency to lead three to five planners and engineers at the local office that will serve Morgan, Johnson and Marion counties.

The local workers also will decide where intersections and overpasses will be located in those counties, and what environmental impact the project could create. Field surveyors soon will begin walking along State Road 37 to determine not only the residents and businesses that will be affected but to try to preserve historic homes and areas inhabited by Indiana bats, which is a federally endangered species.

To establish where the interchanges will be located, workers will examine traffic patterns and the proximity of homes and businesses to the current roadway.

Accessibility is a big issue for emergency responders, residents and businesses. Engineers want to ensure that these drivers will have easy access to I-69 once the project is completed, Miller said.

The Indiana Department of Transportation opted for the six office sites to set up in locations where the greatest number of people would be affected by the project. Project workers hope community members will visit the office to ease their concerns and learn more about INDOT’s plans and how those plans could affect them.

Office operators are conducting meetings about the project’s next phase for government officials June 29. Public meeting dates will be announced soon.
“We understand that there are concerns, and we want to develop a roadway that fits into the community,” Miller said.

Each office along the route will work at its own pace within the 18-to-36-month time frame during which the second phase of the project will be completed. The remaining I-69 offices are in Oakland City, Petersburg, Washington and Bloomington. When the local offices complete their analysis, INDOT will review the findings. If approved, the final design for the route to Evansville will be drafted, land will be acquired and construction will begin.

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GrantWill Examine City Sites

By MICHAEL W. HOSKINS
Daily Journal staff writer
Franklin is getting $300,000 in grants to evaluate eight abandoned lots, former factory buildings or other environmentally unfit areas. Officials hope the assessment will speed up economic development and possibly bring new jobs to the city.

The money comes from a federal program used to renovate abandoned, underused or contaminated land so it can be made more marketable for future development.

“These grants will go far to revitalize sites by beginning environmental assessments and cleanup activities,” U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Monticello, said in a news release. “Rehabilitating some of these affected sites will help spur industrial investment, job creation and retention and improved public health.”

Indiana is one of 42 states receiving federal brownfield money, with $900,000 split between Franklin, Frankfort and Tippecanoe County.

This is the first time Franklin has applied for a communitywide assessment. Brownfield grants are typically sought for work on a specific property.

“This is good news,” Franklin planner Krista Linke said. “There weren’t always regulations like there are today, and so it’s hard to know what went on.”
A professional assessment will be conducted on the properties to determine what, if any, environmental problems exist.

For example, manufacturing plants might have used toxic chemicals, or former gas stations might have leaked oil and contaminated the ground, she said. Franklin had listed 17 possible brownfield sites on its application submitted in the fall, Linke said. Some of those sites include the former Kawneer plant, the ArvinMeritor building, the former Electro-Spec location on Industrial Road and tow yards and former gas stations throughout the city.

City planners will be contacting property owners in the next few weeks before determining what sites to test, she said.

One grant for $200,000 can be used for reviews of eight sites that could be redeveloped or revitalized, and another for $100,000 can be used to assess former gasoline or oil sites.
“We can determine what obstacles are at these places, what kind of problems there are or if it’s better than we thought,” Linke said. “That can give companies incentive to redevelop.”

Linke said the money will be used to hire consultants who can perform environmental assessments, such as testing soil samples. Reports would then be given to the city, and officials could pass the reports along to any developer interested in improving or moving into that site.

The city also would be able to apply for more grants to pay for cleanup at the tested sites, Linke said.

Franklin is hoping to use the money to bring in more development to offset the 2002 closure of the Kawneer plant and the upcoming shutdown of the ArvinMeritor building. By redeveloping these sites, more jobs could be created locally to fill the employment gaps, Linke said.

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Business Park in Works
By Michele Holtkamp
Daily Journal staff writer
May 11, 2004
A property-development company plans to build a nearly 300-acre business park on the east side of Greenwood. Lauth Property Group has preliminary plans to construct nine buildings on the property at the northeast corner of Interstate 65 and Main Street. County

Line Business Park would primarily house bulk-distribution and warehouse facilities.
The company would build warehouses, attract employers and either lease the building and property to the business or sell the facility. In some cases, the property is sold to a third-party investor, said Chris Alexander, vice president for development with Indianapolis-based Lauth.

The company is asking the city to annex 110 acres, known as the Windhorst farm, and rezone portions of it for light-industry and commercial uses. Lauth is also under contract to purchase 92 acres north of the Windhorst farm, currently owned by Greenwood Partners I, and 80 acres east of the site owned by the Smith family trust. Combined, the properties would form a 265-acre business park.

The annexation and rezoning must be approved by the seven-member city council after the advisory plan commission issues a preliminary opinion to approve or deny the development. The plan commission would approve detailed site-development plans for each structure as the buildings are proposed.

All surrounding property already is part of Greenwood city limits, and planning director Ed Ferguson recommends that the city approve the development.

“The Greenwood site is a good location because of the proximity to Interstate 65, the strong labor pool in Greenwood and Johnson County and the city’s history of being aggressive in offering economic incentives,”Alexander said.

A similar Lauth business park developed in Brownsburg five years ago now employs several hundred people. Earlier this year, Lauth was granted a 10-year tax abatement to construct an 816,000-square-foot modern bulk-distribution facility on 49 acres of Greenwood Partners I land. A tax abatement is an economic incentive that allows a company to pay a reduced property tax bill in the early years of a new development.
The construction would be the first activity at County Line Business Park, Alexander said.

Construction is scheduled to start on the building this fall and take six to seven months to complete. The facility is being constructed on a speculative basis, meaning that no specific tenant has agreed to occupy the building.

The business park is just south of a 98-acre tract of retail property that borders Interstate 65, County Line Road and Graham Road. County Line Business Park will be across Main Street from another Greenwood business park, Precedent South Business Center.

Developed by The Precedent Cos. of Indianapolis in 1999, the 400-acre park is about 50 percent developed, said Larry Siegler, vice president of Precedent Commercial Development. The company sells lots to entrepreneurs wanting to build and own their own businesses and leases facilities to larger companies, such as Phoenix Materials along Interstate 65.

Nearly 10 companies occupy eight buildings in the business park, Siegler said. One building is vacant.

About 40 acres of the park along Main Street are zoned for business use. The remaining acreage is zoned for industrial use.

Siegler said development in the park has been slower than expected after a robust first year. Although the company hasn’t formalized many deals with businesses looking to lease or own space in recent months, Precedent has seen an increase in inquiries from those interested in the site, Siegler said.

Precedent officials say delays in improving Main Street and Graham Road may have hurt the pace of development in the business park. That road construction, which is now under way, will provide a better front door for the business park, Siegler said.

A good example in Brownsburg
Lauth decided to move forward with plans for County Line Business Park after seeing success at its Eaglepoint Business Park in Brownsburg, Alexander said. The 400-acre business park was developed in 1999, and 150 acres remain available for construction, Alexander said. In four years, Lauth has recruited tenants to occupy more than 2 million square feet, mostly for modern bulk distribution.

Two national companies, HomeGoods and Guitar Center, employ about 650 people combined. HomeGoods is a division of TJX Co., which is the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. In mid-2003, GENCO Distribution System decided to lease nearly 200,000 square feet of space and operate a return center for Best Buy. Late last year, Sur La Table, a national housewares retailer, opened a regional distribution center in the business park, according to information from Lauth.

The Indiana Department of Commerce has offered thousands of dollars to train new employees for needed skills and technology certification to work for several of the companies building in Eaglepoint.

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Caterpillar Logistics to Open Distribution Center in Greenwood;
To Create 150 Jobs
4/29/2004
From Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick
Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), recently announced the opening of a 400,000 square ft. Greenwood, IN facility to handle distribution services for a major consumer products company. The Greenwood facility currently has 50 employees, with that number expected to grow to 150 by the 4th quarter of 2004.

“The opening of this facility re-affirms our commitment to Central Indiana as an area of rich infrastructure and a talented workforce that serve to enhance our best-in-class processes we provide for nearly 50 clients worldwide.” said Ron Kruse, President of Caterpillar Logistics’ Client Services Division.

Charles Henderson, Mayor of the City of Greenwood, Indiana, said, “I am pleased to see activity on the east side and we are encouraged that Cat Logistics Services, a global company, has selected Greenwood to open its newest logistic center. We look forward to working with them.”

The addition of the Greenwood location brings Cat Logistics’ Central Indiana facility count to six, with others located in Indianapolis, Greenfield, Lebanon and Plainfield handling parts distribution for Caterpillar Inc., and five additional clients.

“The Greenwood facility offers Cat Logistics easy access, a quality workforce and a welcomed presence in Johnson County. We are working aggressively to encourage this type of quality employer and will continue to work with the company as an existing business to encourage them to grow,” according to Johnson County Development Corp., Executive Director of the Johnson County Development Corporation.

About Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.:
Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. provides world-class supply chain solutions and services to its parent company, Caterpillar Inc., and nearly 50 other leading corporations throughout the world. Headquartered in Morton, Illinois, Caterpillar Logistics operates more than 90 offices and facilities in 25 countries on six continents. Caterpillar Logistics provides its full service capabilities to companies in market sectors, which include automotive service parts, industrial service parts, consumer durables, technology and electronics, manufacturing logistics, and aerospace service parts.

More information is available at www.CatLogistics.com

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Signs of More Hopeful Times
By MICHAEL W. HOSKINS
Daily Journal Staff Writer
mhoskins@thejournalnet.com
“Now hiring” signs popping up in Johnson County are doing their job, drawing waves of applicants from a bruised and battered local economy.

A blue “Now Hiring” banner fastened to the KYB Manufacturing sign in Franklin is just one of several examples sprinkled around the county showing that existing companies are hiring workers while other businesses consider the county as a potential home.

As the state and county’s unemployment rate continues dropping and new jobs appear locally, some say the hiring signals a boost in Johnson County’s job market.

“We’re seeing a great deal more economic activity,” said Johnson County Development Corp., executive director of the Johnson County Development Corp. “Existing companies’ projections are better, and new companies are asking for information on the county. That’s promising for our work force.”

Caterpillar Logistics, an Illinois-based engine and heavy-equipment manufacturer, announced last month its plans to open a new facility in Greenwood and bring 150 new jobs to the area.

At least three other companies are eyeing Johnson County for future business, Kinnett said. He also receives calls daily from other businesses wanting information on the area.
The new hiring trend signals a lift in the local economy, which has been hit hard by plant closings and is still threatened by cutbacks and continued layoffs.

Johnson County’s unemployment rate dropped slightly in March, staying well below the state and national levels but remaining higher than the rate this time last year, according to figures released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. The state and national levels have also shrunk.

New jobs appearing in Johnson County gives hope for workers facing layoffs within local companies, such as ArvinMeritor and the Best Buy distribution center in Franklin and Alpine Electronics in Greenwood.

About 850 employees at Franklin’s ArvinMeritor plant will lose their jobs or be transferred before the facility closes in September. The Best Buy distribution center will lay off more than 400 of its employees this summer, and 168 Alpine workers will lose their jobs by fall. More than 200 jobs were eliminated when Franklin’s Kawneer plant closed in 2002.

Some local companies see the layoffs as a way to attract new employees into their ranks.
Several companies in the manufacturing industry are actively recruiting new workers, placing signs out front or advertising in newspapers, as well as relying on word of mouth, company officials say.

Precision Products in Greenwood, one of the county’s largest custom tool-and-die shops with about 60 employees, has been hiring since October using advertising and word of mouth.

“The economy has rebounded well for us, and it continues to increase,” vice president Jerry Johnson said. “Our hiring process is open.”
Johnson could not say how many new employees have been hired since ArvinMeritor announced its pending shutdown last year.
Employees are paid hourly, from $13 to $24, depending on a person’s skill level, Johnson said.

“We seek very skilled tool makers and machine operators,” he said. “They’re hard to come by, but we look within the county first.”

The KYB plant is hiring about 20 new hourly positions to better staff its production lines, said Stephanie Sanders, a department manager.

The hourly wages range from $9.65 to $13.25, and the plant gets about 40 or 50 applicants a day, she said.

“We have a lot of applicants who are still employed,” Sanders said in between prospective-employee interviews Thursday. “Many of them are from Johnson County, as well as Shelby and Marion counties.”

Franklin’s Davidson Industries is also hiring because of high production demand, owner Larry Davidson said. About 70 people have been hired in the past few months, putting the manufacturer’s work force at 375 employees.

Even with recent news that a larger, Texas-based company has decided not to buy the local facility, Davidson said business is strong and applications are still being accepted.
Each position is hourly, but Davidson declined to say what the wages would be.
The Franklin facility primarily makes roof and floor trusses and wall panels for production homebuilders.

“We’re seeing an increase (in business) because building season has started,” Davidson said. “We’re doing extremely well and hope that will last throughout the fall and winter.”
An average of about 20 people apply each day, but as many as 50 people have crowded inside to fill out applications, said Sue Powell, a receptionist in the front lobby.k

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Prime location, available land, quality of life among the selling points.
by Holly Yoakum, Indiana Business Magazine
(April 2003) - A heavily traveled Interstate 65 runs through the eastern townships. The bustling U.S. 31 and State Road 135 retail corridors run through the middle. The Interstate 69 extension will be built at the county’s western border. And county commissioners are planning to build an east-west road that will connect each of these north-south corridors.
With those major thoroughfares, Johnson County seems to be the perfect place to recruit distribution centers and warehouses. But Johnson County Development Corp., executive director of the Johnson County Development Corp., says distribution centers aren’t on the list of businesses the county’s economic-development leaders are working hard to attract.

"We are in a prime place for distribution, so that will be a natural development. We want to attract higher capital investments and higher-paying jobs," Kinnett says. "We’re not going to chase away distribution by any means. We’re not targeting those businesses either."

Kinnett says a recently developed master plan for economic development in Johnson County lists three types of companies county leaders want to see develop: advanced manufacturing plants, plastics factories and biology/life-sciences companies. Though the area already is home to a small number of firms in these sectors–such as Indiana Protein Technologies in Greenwood, Franklin Plastic Products in the county seat and Lear Corp. in Edinburgh–officials are eager to lure the kinds of firms that operate in other Indiana communities, such as Eli Lilly & Co. and Roche Diagnostics in Indianapolis and DeKalb Molded Plastics Co. in Butler.

The county’s economic-development plan also places a priority on serving existing businesses, helping keep them healthy and vital and helping keep their employees educated and productive, Kinnett says.

Johnson County workers and business owners have been lucky. While much of the country and Indiana have suffered significant layoffs during the past year, this doughnut county has retained low unemployment numbers and steady income tax collections through 2002.

Forty-three percent of the county’s workforce leaves Johnson County for employment, which means the county has an untapped workforce to sell. Kinnett hopes that will help attract new business and fill the area’s business-park developments.

The most prominent is the Franklin Tech Park, being developed at I-65 and State Road 44 in Franklin. Franklin Mayor Norm Blankenship announced about a year and a half ago that the city would extend sewers across the interstate, opening the east side of the highway to further business development. Within months, Denison Properties president Mac McNaught had filed plans to construct the tech park.

Blankenship says getting the sewer project completed this year is one of his top priorities. The city is also doing some road improvements to help accommodate the new park.

Blankenship notes that many businesses have not been in an expansion mode in recent years. In the meantime, he is working on quality-of-life issues that will make the city attractive when business development picks up again. Among other things, the city hopes to develop a citywide trail system and purchase land for a new fire station.

Greenwood Mayor Charles Henderson says he tries to emphasize the county’s excellent schools and educated workforce as well as the proximity to Indianapolis. Henderson set off on a trip in March to talk to corporate executives in three Midwestern cities, trying to sell Greenwood and Johnson County as new business locations.

Henderson and Kinnett decided the trip was a good idea because businesses are being so selective about expansion plans and Johnson County needs to do something to make itself stand out. A personal visit from a mayor can show a real dedication to making business development work, Henderson says.

He says he can sell the community based on its rural character with the advantage of easy access to a major city. Greenwood’s airport can be attractive to any company or clients with a corporate jet, Henderson says. Plus, Johnson County has diverse housing opportunities, from million-dollar custom homes to starter homes and apartments, he says.

True, those same qualities can be found in many of the communities surrounding Indianapolis, particularly Hamilton and Hendricks counties, where a large portion of central Indiana development has occurred in the past half dozen years. But Kinnett says Johnson County officials don’t worry about competing with their neighbors. The county is part of regional economic-development efforts, and when those pay off for a neighboring county that helps Johnson County too, Kinnett says.

What’s more, Johnson County has the added attraction of quick access to downtown Indianapolis–twice as quick as Hamilton County, Kinnett notes. And the Greenwood Park Mall and surrounding retail corridor allow residents and businesses access to shops and services closer to home than any of the other doughnut counties, he adds.

Kinnett, Henderson and Blankenship share a vision of a diversified business base and communities offering a high quality of life, good places to work surrounded by good places to live. The county’s economic-development leaders recognize that will take cooperation within the county and beyond county lines.

They also know it will take good planning. In addition to the development corporation’s new master plan, Franklin just created a new comprehensive plan, the county commissioners are in the midst of a comprehensive plan update, and Greenwood is working on long-range plans for sewer expansion and development.

Even the best-created plans don’t guarantee a perfect future, but the leaders hope that by looking ahead they’re securing a better economic future for Johnson County residents.
"If you have a vision and stick to it, it’s good," Henderson says. "Sometimes you’ll wish you had a different vision but it’s better than having no vision at all."

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