2016
AnnualReport
500 South A Street, Suite 2 • Richmond, Indiana 47374 • 765-983-4769

Overview

Paul Witte
2016 Chair

In 2016, the EDC capitalized on opportunities that will beneﬁt Wayne County
for years to come. Omen Casting announced their plans to open their ﬁrst
North American location in Wayne County. Blue Buﬀalo also announced theirplans to open and build a state-of-the-art facility in the Midwest Industrial
Park. Both projects came together pretty quickly with the cooperation ofmany governmental entities. Governor Holcomb, Lieutenant Governor at thetime, visited Wayne County in September for the ribbon cutting of Sugar Creek’s
state-of-the-art facility and the ground breaking for Blue Buﬀalo. In November,
EDC President Valerie Shaﬀer and Richmond Mayor Dave Snow joined a trade
mission to Japan with our partners in the East Central Indiana Regional Partnershipto strengthen our relationships with companies who call Wayne County home, as
well as introduce the region and Wayne County to new prospects. Building on themomentum and relationships developed in Japan will be important to carry on in thefuture.
The EDC staﬀ played a vital role in bringing these projects to our area. Our staﬀ works
diligently to market Wayne County as an attractive place for employers. Valeriebrings key stakeholders and decision makers to the table to give prospects themost attractive package possible for companies to either expand or locate in Wayne
County. Valerie and her staﬀ also work with our existing businesses to assist themwherever possible in their continued growth and success. Our existing businesses area key component in our community.
The new businesses and expansion projects would not be possible without otherentities creating a sustainable environment for employers. In 2016, Wayne County
was designated as an ACT Certiﬁed Work Ready Community. This process took
over two years. It could not have been accomplished without the collaboration andsupport of many organizations. This designation demonstrates how Wayne County’s
workforce is qualiﬁed to fulﬁll new and existing employment opportunities.
Economic development never stops and is ongoing community wide. Wayne County
has to continue to strive for an educated and trained workforce. We haveto provide an environment for people in our community to enjoy lifeoutside of employment. We also need aﬀordable and attractive
housing options for our existing and potentially new workforce.
Wayne County has great educational opportunities with six
high schools and ﬁve colleges and universities. There are
nineteen parks in Richmond alone, as well as parks locatedin Centerville, Cambridge City, Hagerstown, and Fountain
City. Our community also oﬀers cultural opportunities inmusic, art, and theatre that are second to none. In myopinion, Wayne County makes an attractive option foreveryone. The assets and amenities help the work of theEDC to attract new investment from our local employers
as well as new prospects. Thank you to everyone who
has made our area an outstanding place to work, live,play, and go to school.

Economic Development
Partnership Award
There’s no question, economic development
is challenging. A deep knowledge of diverseand complicated topics is required. It’s
impossible for one person to acquire all
the expertise needed to navigate througha project from start to ﬁnish. That’s
why we rely on partners so heavily. InWayne County we’re fortunate to haveknowledgeable people who are not only
good at their jobs, but who are passionate
about making our communities better
places to live and work. This year we
recognize Elijah Welch as the recipient of
the Economic Development PartnershipAward.
Elijah consistently goes above and beyond
to help us get the information we need by
the tight deadlines we need it. He provides
technical expertise to guide us in making
good decisions to avoid future problems

and ensure our clients have a goodexperience in Wayne County. Elijah
is a licensed professional engineer
in Indiana and the district engineer
for the Richmond Sanitary District
where he’s been employed for 12years. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineeringfrom Purdue University and is amember of the Chi Epsilon National CivilEngineering Honor Society. In 2016, Elijah
won the Engineering Excellence Award
from the American Council of Engineering
Companies. He’s a member of the Indiana
Water Environment Association, andan Indiana past Young ProfessionalEngineer, as well as a member of theEDC’s Industrial Park Committee and theRichmond Plat Committee. In addition,
Elijah is a volunteer youth sports coachand owner of Muddy Monkey, a small
business in Richmond.

Recognition of Board Members
We’d like to recognize three outgoingboard members for their time andexpertise. Kyle Clark, Jim Cohen, andNancy Green were appointed to the board
in 2011, and then were reappointed in 2014
by their respective appointing bodies. All
three served two consecutive three-year
terms, the maximum allowed by the EDC’sbylaws.

Kyle Clark was appointed by the Wayne
County Commissioners. During Kyle’s
tenure with the board he served 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 in 2012 as Secretary. He servedas Vice Chair in 2013 and Chair of the Board
in 2014. In addition, Jim also served on theIndustrial Park Committee, chairing thatcommittee in 2013.
Nancy Green was appointed by the Mayorof Richmond. Nancy served six years on theMarketing and Communication Committee,
chairing that committee in 2015 and 2016.
Nancy joined the Executive Committee in2013 as Secretary and served as Vice Chairin 2014. Nancy continues to serve on theMarketing and Communication Committee
joining past board members Kevin Ahausand John Meredith.

Elijah Welch

Partnering
Communities
Cambridge City
Centerville
EconomyHagerstown
MiltonRichmondWayne County

2016 Ofﬁcers

2016 Board

Chair – Paul Witte (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)Johnnie Barrett (Centerville Town Council)

Vice Chair – Jeff Jackson (Mayor of Richmond)

Kyle Clark (Wayne County Commissioners)

Treasurer – Robert Warner (Hagerstown Town Council)

Jim Cohen (Cambridge City Town Council)

Secretary – Tracie Upchurch (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)

Tim Frame (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)

Immediate Past Chair – Lee Elzemeyer (Wayne County Commissioners)

Nancy Green (Mayor of Richmond)
Larry Parker (Richmond Common Council)(Appointing bodies)

Josh Russell (Wayne County Council)

Business Development
Blue Buffalo ~ Heartland Pet Food

Wayne County is an excellent location for pet food manufacturers and foodprocessors. Meat, grain, and dairy producers are plentiful, not only within the state,
but from neighboring Ohio as well. Blue Buﬀalo’s wholly owned subsidiary, Heartland
Pet Food, joins several other high-quality animal nutrition and food processingcompanies who call Wayne County home.
Valerie Shaffer

President
valerie@edcwc.com
11 years of service

Heartland Pet Food became the ﬁrst tenant to locate in the newly developed Phase IIof the Midwest Industrial Park. The company is investing $147 million to build a stateof-the-art manufacturing, distribution, and research and development facility. Thecompany plans to create 165 full-time jobs and be operational in 2018. Collaborationon the project involved the City of Richmond, Wayne County Government, theTown of Centerville, as well as the EDC of Wayne County and the Indiana EconomicDevelopment Corporation (IEDC).
Blue Buﬀalo is a leading manufacturer of natural foods and treats for dogs and cats.
Founders Bill and Jackie Bishop formed the company after losing their beloved
Airedale, Blue, to cancer. Blue’s illness prompted the Bishop family to take an interestin a wide range of pet health issues and develop a super-premium pet food using
only the highest quality natural ingredients.

Project Snapshot:• $147 million investment• 165 new full-time jobs
• $28 million performance based TIF bond awarded• Public infrastructure improvements pledged• High quality dog and cat food production2016 Project Summary• Total New Job Commitments: 265• Total Annual Payroll: $9,162,400• Average Wage per Hour: $16.62• Total New Private Investment: $163,000,000• Total Occupied Industrial Space: 475,000SF

Omen Casting Group ~ Omen USA
Israel-based Omen Casting Group kicked the year oﬀ with an announcement
they were locating their ﬁrst North American facility, Omen USA, in Wayne
County. Omen Casting is a high pressure aluminum die casting company
producing parts for the global automotive industry.
Omen USA is leasing 75,000 square feet in a building located at 1600 Rich
Road in Richmond. The company plans on creating up to 100 full-time jobs andinvesting $16 million in equipment and renovations to their building by 2019.
Omen Casting has facilities in Israel, Portugal, and Russia. The Richmondlocation will manufacture aluminum parts for drivelines, steering components,and oil pumps which will be installed in cars for American and German automotive
manufacturers.

Project Snapshot:• $16 million investment• 100 new full-time jobs
• $275,000 Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) Grant• Property Tax Abatements• High pressure aluminum die casting company for the automotive industry

Sugar Creek Brandworthy Food Solutions
Sugar Creek Brandworthy Food Solutions
cut the ribbon on their new state-of-theart food processing facility in Septemberof 2016. The company expanded thefootprint of the building to over 418,000
square feet, making a $120+ million
investment and projecting the creationof 400 total new jobs with over 300 newjobs being created to date. Governor Eric
Holcomb as Lieutenant Governor helped
founder, John Richardson, cut the ribbon
on the new facility.

Alaina Geres

Ofﬁce Manager
alaina@edcwc.com
5 years of service

Business Development
Japan Trade Mission
The state of Indiana ranks as
a top location for Japanese
investment in the UnitedStates. In East Central
Indiana, Japanese companies
employ approximately 4,000people. There are ﬁve Japanesecompanies with facilities inWayne County. For thesereasons it makes sense
to seek opportunities tostrengthen our businessties and build relationships
withexistingandprospective companies inJapan.
In November, RichmondMayor Dave Snow andEDC
President
Valerie
Shaﬀer participated in theﬁrst international trade mission
organized by the East Central
Indiana Regional Partnership (ECIRP).
They were joined by ECIRP President
and CEO Mindy Kenworthy, as well as
the mayor of Rushville, the president of
the Rush County economic development
organization, and a representativefrom the Japan-America Society ofIndiana. The IEDC’s Japan oﬃce helped
to coordinate a busy itinerary. The
delegation attended 14 meetings over

6 days, including face-to-face sessions
with top level executives of companies
either considering new investment, or
who already have facilities in the region.
By meeting directly with top decision
makers, the group had a chance toprovide information, answer questions,and address any concerns company
oﬃcials identiﬁed.
Valerie and Mayor Snow were able tomeet with representatives from allﬁve Japanese companies located inRichmond. Those companies include:TBK America, Yamaguchi ManufacturingUSA, Asahitec America, Yukiya USA
Gasket, and Suncall America. After
returning from Japan, the EDC had
the opportunity to work with TBK
America, who recently expanded at their
Richmond location, adding 21 new jobs
and investing $1.8 million.
The delegation also spent time visiting
Waseda University which has a longstanding exchange student programwith Earlham College. The delegation
explored ways to expand upon therelationship, such as developing
reciprocal internship opportunities
with Richmond’s Japanese companies.
Lastly, the delegation spent a day in
Tochigi Prefecture, Indiana’s sister state.

Marketing, Sales & Public Relations• 124 meaningful contacts with site selectors, commercial real estate brokers,
and company representatives by President Valerie Shaﬀer through attendance atconferences, events, and the international trade mission to Japan.
• The EDC responded to 21 project leads, completed 6 requests for information,and conducted 9 site visits.
• Business retention and expansion eﬀorts led to 73 meetings with local companies.
• Developed a full-page ad for Site Selection Magazine to compliment the Top 25
Micropolitan recognition in the Govenor’s Cup edition.
• Worked to develop a new webpage showcasing Wayne County’s business case forthe food processing industry.
• Prepared printed materials for the Japanese Trade Mission promoting Wayne
County’s business and quality of life assets.

Renee Doty

Manager of Community
Affairs
rdoty@edcwc.com
14 years of service

Featured Articles• BizVoice, September/October issue (published by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce)• Business in Focus Magazine, May issue

Awards and Recognition• Top Five Awards of Excellence, Advanced Manufacturing, Expansion Solutions
Magazine (November/December)• President Valerie Shaﬀer named a Top 50 Economic Developer by ConsultantConnect• Top 25 Micropolitans, Governor’s Cup edition (March) of Site Selection Magazine

Workforce Development• Wayne County achieved the ACT Certiﬁed Work Ready Community designation.
This designation provides an objective view of the county’s labor force. We join
Delaware, Randolph, Fayette and Rush counties as Certiﬁed Work Ready.
• With partner counties Jay and Randolph, began working on the development ofHoosier Opportunity, a talent recruitment website to match companies locatedin the three-county area with job seekers from anywhere. Find the website athoosieropportunity.com.
• Celebrated National Manufacturing Day in October in collaboration with Ivy
Tech Community College and the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce.
Over 130 area high school vocational career education students toured Ahaus
Tool and Engineering, Belden, CIT, Osborn International, and Janesville Acoustics.
• The EDC worked with Northeastern High School to bring 20 employers to atransitional job fair geared at students preparing to make the transition
from high school to the workforce.
• Partnered with the Richmond Area Career Center to help students
in vocational programs connect with employers through in-classpresentations and internships.
• Worked to bring in 10 employers for a job fair geared at Excel Center
graduates. Several students found employment within a week of attending
the job fair.

Joe Henry

Manager of Existing
Business & Education
joe@edcwc.com
2 years of service

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