ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
OF WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA
Annual Board Meeting Minutes
Monday, May 1, 2017
BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:

Elzemeyer, Frame, Jackson, Leisure, Parker, Russell, Salazar, Upchurch,Warner, Witte, Yaeger

BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT:

Barrett

STAFF PRESENT:

Shaffer, Doty, Henry, Geres

GUESTS PRESENT:
Allen, Michael
Beeson, Chris
Bergan, Kris
Bergen, Belinda
Blakely, Jeff
Brattain, Amy
Butters, Mary Anne
Carter, Jeff
Cochran, Denny
Comiskey, Daniel
Cross, RonCurrent, Lori
Dabney, Dyron
D’Amico, Phil
Dunnaway, DanGreen, Nancy

Gutzwiller, HaroldHamm, DickHarris, WilliamJacob, LeslieJohnson, Sherrilyn
Kenworthy, Mindy
Kleer, Garry
Langley, Christy
LaVeer, Rebecca
Lim, ChooMarsh, EricMatney, Melissa
Maxeiner, Julie
Mitchell, Sarah
Murray, Rebecca
Napier, Tammy

Oler, RonOntko, RayOrtiz, Jorge
Pearson, Pam
Plasterer, Jeff
Poinsett, Kimberly
Quinn, PhilRay, Valerie
Reynolds, ChuckRodden, EdRodgers, Dave
Saunders, Gary
Schultz, Austin
Shuey, Mickey
Snow, Dave
Soukup, Mark

Sowers, George
Templin, Randy
Terrill, Todd
Thomas, Mary Jo
Thurlow, Kim
Troutwine, Jason
Ulm, KeithWalker, MaryWeaver, BobWeddle, ColleenWeinert, RobinWelch, ElijahWutzl, Brant

CALL TO ORDER
Board Chair Jeff Jackson called the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Economic Development
Corporation of Wayne County, Indiana to order at 4:02 p.m. on Monday, May 1, 2017, at Forest Hills
Country Club in Richmond, Indiana. Jackson introduced the staff and board of directors.
2016 IN REVIEW
Past Chair Paul Witte reviewed 2016 noting it was a year of progress with the attraction of two large
employers, Blue Buffalo and Omen Castings, together creating as many as 250 jobs, and also brought
Governor Holcomb to our area for the Blue Buffalo ground breaking and Sugar Creek ribbon cutting. Hespoke on the recognition the EDC received in 2016: a top five recipient in Advanced Manufacturing showing exceptional progress and potential in
the area of development by successfully recruiting, retaining, and/or assisting growingbusinesses Richmond being listed as a top micropolitan in the United States by Site Selection Magazine in atie for 32nd for the number of projects in 2016
 the ground breaking ceremony for Blue Buffalo was featured in an article in Expansion Solutions
Magazine as a place where food processors are thriving in IndianaValerie Shaffer was named one of North America’s top 50 economic developers by ConsultantConnect, a consulting agency designed to bridge the gap between economic developers and site
consultants
 Business in Focus Magazine wrote an article about Wayne County, “Where Business andCommunity Meet,” talking about the collaborative effort we as a community put forth in order
to attract and retain business.
 the Biz Voice/Indiana Chamber/ September/October issue featured an article about Wayne
County highlighting our Innovation and PreservationHe also spoke about the Japanese trade mission attended by Valerie Shaffer and Mayor Dave Snowjoining the regional group, East Central Indiana Regional Partnership, to strengthen our relationships
with the five Japanese companies who call Wayne County home, as well as introduce the region andWayne County to new prospects.
2017 OVERVIEW
Current Chair Jeff Jackson presented an overview of the current year, reporting the EDC will continue togive priority to three main initiatives: business retention and expansion, new business attraction, andworkforce development. He reported the EDC has worked with three local investment projects to date:
Richmond Casting Company, TBK America, and Vandor Corporation. Together, those projects haveresulted in $2.5M in new investment and 51 new job commitments. He reported that Valerie willcontinue to be involved in sales trips and conferences both inside and outside the state of Indiana,
meeting with site selectors, commercial real estate brokers, and company executives to promote Wayne
County as a great place to locate their next investment project and that Alaina will be actively involved
in responding to leads and providing information to interested parties regarding infrastructure,workforce, available sites and buildings, and other data requests. He spoke on physical infrastructure,that to accommodate expansions and new business, we will continue our efforts to identify and possibly
acquire land for industrial park expansion and the EDC will continue to assist however we can in theeffort to resolve the challenge of wastewater treatment in Western Wayne County in a way that willrecognize how important this investment is to the future of job creation and new business attraction inthat part of the county. He spoke about the office move to the Historic Depot District and how it isimportant that the organization most responsible for growth and change be relocated to the center of a
district that’s being revitalized and which is attracting new businesses. Finally he spoke on the newtalent recruitment website, Hoosier Opportunity, as part of workforce development efforts and how wewill be meeting with employers to demonstrate the features of the website and educating them on how
to use the site to its full potential, that Renee will devote much of our marketing and social media
efforts on the website making sure we build awareness for both employers and job seekers, and that Joe
Henry will be working with county high school counselors to provide information to them about how thesite can be used as a resource for career planning for their students.
HOOSIER OPPORTUNITY DEMONSTRATION
Shaffer provided a demonstration of the new talent recruitment website, HoosierOpportunity.com. The
site is a three-county partnership with Jay and Randolph Counties to offer employment listings for free tothose companies who are paying at least $10/hour as a workforce development effort.
RECOGNITION OF PAST CHAIR AND BOARD MEMBERS
Jackson presented Witte with a token of the EDC’s appreciation for serving as board chair last year. Thenboth Jackson and Witte presented Nancy Green with a token of the EDC’s appreciation for her service on
the board as an outgoing board members. Kyle Clark and Jim Cohen, who were unable to attend themeeting, were also honored as outgoing board members.

Paul Witte was appointed to the EDC Board of Directors in 2013 by the Wayne County Area Chamber ofCommerce and was re-appointed for a second term in 2016. During his tenure on the board he hasserved on the Industrial Park, Finance, and Executive Committees, serving as Secretary of the board in
2014, Vice Chair in 2015, Chair in 2016, and Immediate Past Chair in 2017.
Kyle Clark was appointed by the Wayne County Commissioners. During Kyle’s tenure with the board heserved six years on the Industrial Park Committee. In 2015 he was appointed to serve on the Funding
Taskforce as part of our strategic planning activities.
Jim Cohen was appointed by the Cambridge City Town Council. Jim joined the Executive Committee in2012 as Secretary. He served as Vice Chair in 2013 and Chair of the Board in 2014. In addition, Jim also
served on the Industrial Park Committee, chairing that committee in 2013.
Nancy Green was appointed by the Mayor of Richmond. Nancy served six years on the Marketing andCommunication Committee, chairing that committee in 2015 and 2016. Nancy joined the Executive
Committee in 2013 as Secretary and served as Vice Chair in 2014. Nancy continues to serve on theMarketing and Communication Committee.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PARTNERSHIP AWARD
Shaffer presented the Economic Development Partnership Award to Elijah Welch. Elijah was awarded
because he consistently goes above and beyond to help the EDC get the information we need by thetight deadlines we need it, even if it requires him to step away from his time at a conference and workon an RFI. He provides technical expertise to guide us in making good site development decisions, henever misses a site visit and he goes the extra mile to ensure our clients have a good experience working
with the City of Richmond. Elijah is a licensed professional engineer in Indiana and the district engineer
for the Richmond Sanitary District where he’s been employed for 12 years. He has a B.S. in Civil
Engineering from Purdue University and is a member of the Indiana Water Environment Association, anIndiana past Young Professional Engineer, as well as a member of the EDC’s Industrial Park Committee
and the Richmond Plat Committee. In 2016, Elijah won the Engineering Excellence Award from theAmerican Council of Engineering Companies. In his spare time, Elijah is a volunteer youth sports coachand owner of Muddy Monkey.
COMPANY RECOGNITIONS
Valerie Shaffer recognized and presented an appreciation award to the following companies and theirrepresentatives and thanked them for their investment in Wayne County in 2016:
Omen Casting Group, USA – Leslie Jacob, Human Resources and Administrative Investment – $16M
 Jobs – 100
 Incentives – $275,000 EDIT Grant
Blue Buffalo Company – Choo Lim, SVP Supply Chain and Daniel Comiskey, VP Capital Strategy andLogistics
 Investment – $147M
 Jobs – 165

 Incentives – $28M performance based TIF bond awarded & public infrastructure improvements
pledgedBlue Buffalo presented a video on the history of their company, their current operations, and company
culture.
ADJOURNMENT
Jackson adjourned the meeting at 4:46 p.m.
NEXT BOARD MEETING – 4:00 p.m. on Monday, June 5, 2017
EDC Board Room, 500 S A Street, Suite 2, Richmond, IN 47374