2015 Annual Report
Wayne County...
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OVERVIEW - Lee Elzemeyer 2015 Chair
It has been my pleasure
to serve as Board Chair of
the Economic Development
Corporation
of
Wayne
County for 2015. Being apart of the Richmond/Wayne
County community for over
50 years makes serving
even more special. As acommunity we are lucky tohave such a great staff andboard serving the Economic
Development Corporationof Wayne County. Our staff is small but mighty – in 2015
they saw a record number of requests from companies
and they seamlessly completed the requests along with
their other tasks. Our volunteer board takes very serious
the job of working to improve the economic condition in
our area. All take the work very seriously and have acommon goal to assist our existing businesses to become
better and show new businesses what our communities
can offer them.
As you read through our Annual Report you will see all
the activities that have occurred during the year. Several
projects have been years in the making and have cometo a successful conclusion. But the work of the EDC

2015 PROJECT SUMMARY
12 (includes 11 local expansions and 1 new company location)

Jobs Retained *

232.5
98

Total Annual Payroll$13,893,564

Average Wage per Hour

$20.21/hr excluding
benefits

New Job Committments

New Private Investment$27,592,054
Total EDIT Incentives Awarded$668,500
Incentives Awarded per Job $2,023
Public/Private Leverage$1/$41.27
Total Expenditures$1,121,914(Incentives and Administration)
Public/Private Leverage with
Administration$1/$24.59

Graph shows data collected on projects, incentives andinvestment for 2015.
*Claimed only if there was a threat of losing the company
or a portion of the workforce.

and our community is not really completed when the
project is concluded. In many ways our work has justbegun. Your EDC continues to work with companies as
they ingrain themselves into our community. The EDC
becomes a resource to companies as they have small
questions to larger issues. The solution may take a quick
phone call to solve or a long period of time of behind thescenes work with a company. The winning of projects are
the items that are written about, but what sets the EDC ofWayne County apart from other communities are theseunheralded tasks provided with little fanfare on behalf ofboth new companies and existing companies. It is the artof service after the sale.
One area the EDC has spent a great deal of time over thelast several years has been working behind the scenes
to improve our workforce. A major project has been to
make Wayne County a Work Ready Community and weare very near the finish line with this project. By being a
Work Ready Community employees in our community
will have a much greater ability to market themselves
to employers. As our economy continues to steadily
improve more and more employers are seeking quality
employees. As new and existing businesses continue toexpand having a quality work force becomes a bigger
issue for our community. The role of the EDC is to help
make sure we attract quality workers into our work force.
The EDC will continue work with employers and all of ourpartners in the education field. It has to be our community
goal to not only provide the location for a business, but
a great workforce which will result in an even greatercommunity.
The job of economic development is not just the job of
the EDC but it involves all of us in the community frombusiness owners, educators, government officials,
members of the workforce and every member of ourcommunities. Whether it is talking with a new employee
moving into Wayne County or an employee who lives outof the area but commutes to Wayne County to work, weneed to show all we have to offer. Invite them to Civic
Theater, Richmond Symphony Orchestra or the Cardinal
Greenway. Make them aware of what makes Wayne
County a great place to live, to raise a family and makeit, as I have, a hometown.
Again, thank you to the staff, board and community formaking 2015 a very successful and enjoyable year forme as Board Chair.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTPARTNERSHIP AWARD
There’s a reason Gunty Atkins is known as the “Map
Wizard” at the EDC. Gunty has been our go-to guy for
as long as anyone in our office can remember when
we need maps. And we have a seemingly endlessneed for maps. Maps are a major component of therequests for information (RFIs) we receive from thestate and from site consultants looking for locations
for new investment. We usually need several maps ofdifferent properties showing utilities, zoning, and otherattributes. Those maps often need revisions and nearly
always on tight deadlines. Maps are also an integral
component of site visits which can often occur with lessthan a twenty-four hour notice. And of course maps
are an important part of the myriad of other projects
the EDC is involved in. Gunty has never once let us
down. According to office manager, Alaina Geres, whocoordinates RFIs and materials for site visits, “Gunty
has been on vacation and come back into the office tohelp us on a project with a shorter than usual deadline.”
Gunty has been working with mapping since 1984.

He is a Geographic Information Systems Professional(GISP) and played an integral role in helping the county
receive the Excellence in GIS in 2011 for its work withaerial photography. He is a
wealth of information. He
is knowledgeable about
Wayne County history, land
use and zoning, utilities, anda whole host of other topics
we’ve found useful in thepast. We finally made thedecision to add Gunty asa member of the Industrial
Park Committee. Gunty is an
all-around good guy, easy towork with, never complains, always willing to go theextra mile and to be helpful. We’re happy to award theEconomic Development Partnership Award to Gunty
Atkins, Wayne County’s “Map Wizard”. Thanks for all
you do for us.

RECOGNITION OF
BOARD MEMBERS
The EDC of Wayne County is happy to recognize thecontributions of three of our outgoing board members;
Brett Guiley, representative for Richmond Common
Council; John Meredith, representative for Wayne County
Council; and Bill Quigg, representative for the Wayne
County Area Chamber of Commerce.

beginning in 2013. He was a member of the Marketing
and Communication Committee during his term on theboard. John also enthusiastically hosted the EDC’s
annual staff retreats.

Bill Quigg served on the EDC board from 2014 to2015 representing the Wayne County Area Chamber
Brett Guiley was appointed to the EDC board in 2010. He of Commerce. During his time on the board Bill was aserved two consecutive three-year terms representing member of the Industrial Park Committee.
Richmond Common Council. Brett was a member ofthe Marketing and Communication Committee during Each of these members of the board brought aboth terms and served as chair of that committee in unique perspective and a commitment to improving2013 and 2014. In 2015, Brett was elected secretary the economy of Wayne County. Their time, effort, andof the board and served on the Executive Committee. talents are appreciated not only by the EDC, but by theJohn Meredith was appointed to the EDC by Wayne
County Council. John served a three-year term

2015 Officers
Chair – Lee Elzemeyer (Wayne County Commissioners)
Vice Chair – Paul Witte (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)
Secretary – Brett Guiley (Richmond Common Council)
Treasurer – Jeff Jackson (City of Richmond, Mayor)
Past Chair – Jim Cohen (Cambridge City Town Council)

entities they were chosen to represent.

2015 Board
Johnnie Barrett (Centerville Town Council)
Kyle Clark (Wayne County Commissioners)
Nancy Green (City of Richmond, Mayor)
John Meredith (Wayne County Council)
Bill Quigg (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)
Tracie Upchurch (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)
Robert Warner (Hagerstown Town Council)

BUSINESSDEVELOPMENT
New Investment Project
Janesville Acoustics

Wernle Youth and Family Treatment Center

The EDC assisted Wernle Youth and Family Treatment
Center in their expansion to build out three nurse’s
stations, purchase and install new IT and computerequipment, as well as new medical equipment, and train
new employees. The project at Wernle, located at 2000
Wernle Road in Richmond, saw their payroll increase toover $1 million as a result of the expansion. Positions
included program managers, nurses, a psychologist, anda training coordinator.
w Investment – $186,521
w Jobs – 19.5 new jobs
w EDIT Grant – $19,000
What They Do: agency providing opportunities for
growth and development of troubled children and theirfamilies

Janesville Acoustics, a division of Jason Industries, Inc.,
announced the location of a new facility in Richmond.
The company leased and renovated space from
Osborn International, located at 2350 Salisbury Road in
Richmond’s Midwest Industrial Park. David Westgate,
former chief executive officer at Jason said, “Ourmore than 10 years in Richmond have demonstrated
that Indiana offers a business-friendly climate that is
supportive of growing companies like Jason.”w Investment – $12,082,000
w Jobs – 87 new jobs
w EDIT Grant – $290,000
What They Make: new line of fiber-based underbody
systems including dash insulators, engine sides, closeout panels, carpet insulation, interior insulation, wheel Noble Order Brewing Company
wells, and trunk compartments, tier 1 and 2 supplier to Indiana’s growing interest
the automotive industry
in craft beer led to the
expansion of this local
brewery. Noble Order,
Expansion Projects
located at 3407 National
Osborn International
Road West, is in theOsborn International, a division of Jason Industries, process of purchasingInc., relocated their North American headquarters from andinstalling
new
Cleveland, Ohio to their existing facility located at 2350 equipment, new product
Salisbury Road in Richmond’s Midwest Industrial Park. tracking software, andThey added 7,400 square feet to accommodate the building renovations. The new equipment will allow
addition of new jobs inthe company to increase production of beer as well as
sales, customer service,improve distribution and logistics.
finance, engineering andw Investment – $571,000
marketing.
w Jobs – 10 new jobs
w Investment – $1,867,000
w EDIT Grant – $17,000
Jobs
–
37
new
jobs
w
What They Make: craft beer
w EDIT Grant – $ 105,000
What They Make: high-quality technical and maintenance Woodruff Corporationbrushes, polishing buffs, and compounds for hundreds of The EDC partnered with Woodruff Corporation, a
subsidiary of Primex Plastics Corporation, in ancommercial and consumer applications
expansion project at their facility located at 400 Industrial
JM Hutton and Company, Inc.
Parkway in Richmond. They purchased new equipment
New equipment provided JM Hutton and Company, that will allow the company to bring work in-house thatlocated at 1501 South 8th Street in Richmond, the was previously sent to other companies, as well as
opportunity to not only diversify
increase efficiency and quality.
product offerings, but bringw Investment – $411,000
work in-house that was previously
w Jobs – 6 new jobs
outsourced to companies outside
w EDIT Grant – $12,000
of Wayne County.
What They Make: design and fabricate corrugated andw Investment – $657,459
solid sheet plastic packaging used in the automotive,
w Jobs – 5 retained jobs
medical, electronic, industrial, material handling, andw EDIT Grant – $12,500
retail display industries
What They Make: metal stamping and powder coating forthe casket, automotive, medical, and aerospace sectors

Suncall America, Inc.

Japanese manufacturer Suncall America added a 10,000
square foot addition to their existing facility located at
505 Industrial Parkway in Richmond to accommodate
new machinery.
w Investment – $3,609,324
w Jobs – 11 new jobs
w EDIT Grant – $39,000
What They Make: valve springs, drive plates, ring gears
and return springs for Toyota and Honda

Perpetual Recycling Solutions, LLC

The EDC partnered with
Perpetual Recycling Solutions
to assist with an expansion that
included the purchase of new
equipment, outdoor building
improvements, and employee
training. The improvements will
increase efficiencies and improve
the skill level of employees.
w Investment – $5,200,000
w Jobs – retained
76 full-time employees
EDIT
Grant – $25,000w
What They Make: high-quality clean PET flake used
in beverage packaging, high end textiles, and otherapplications

Ahaus Tool and EngineeringAs business continued toincrease over the years,
and with continued growth
projected for the future,
the company decided it
was time to build a 9,000
square foot addition onto
their existing facility locatedat 200 Industrial Parkway
in Richmond and purchasenew equipment. The newadditionwill
provideneeded assembly space.
w Investment – $676,750
w Jobs – 11 new jobs, 5 of which will be apprentices
from area high school programs
w EDIT Grant – $22,000
What They Make: original equipment manufacturer
specializing in assembly equipment, automationequipment, and workholding solutions for the automotive,
construction, mining/drilling, and medical industries

Contract Industrial Tooling, Inc.

Indiana based Contract
Industrial Tooling (CIT)
added 10,000 square feet ofspace to their existing facility
at 2351 Production Court inRichmond to accommodate
current and future growth.
w Investment – $325,000
w Jobs – 10 new jobs
w EDIT Grant – $12,000
What They Make: manufacture parts containers
primarily for the automotive industry as well as cab andcanopy production, industrial/construction enclosures forforklifts, medical therapy tables, and hydraulic liftgates

Innomark Communications

Locally operated Concept
Imaging Group (formally
Grafcor, Inc.) located at
601 NW 5th Street inRichmond consolidated
operations from a facility
located in Edgewood,
Kentucky to the Richmondplant.
w Investment – $1,450,000
w Jobs – 33 new jobs, 17 retained jobs
w EDIT Grant – $105,000
What They Make: print large format, point-of-saledisplays for global retail markets and work with retailers,
consumer package goods companies, corrugators,
integrators, and content packaging facilities

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, locatedat 2325 Union Pike,
constructed a brand new
training facility for new
and current employeesthat includes handson stations paired with
online, virtual training.
The company also plansto utilize the training center to partner with local education
programs for further training within those programs.
w Investment – $556,000
w Jobs – 8 new jobs
w EDIT Grant – $10,000
What They Make: pet nutrition for companion animals

MARKETING, SALES& PUBLIC RELATIONSThe EDC’s efforts to market and promote Wayne County Other projects:
include a number of different activities and involve all w A proposal generator app was developed that allows
staff members in one way or another. Activities range
us to deliver responses to RFIs in a professional andfrom the design and placement of ads, updates toconsistent manner.
the EDC’s website, sales calls in major metropolitan w Through eblasts and social media we kept themarkets, the professional completion of requests forcommunity and stakeholders up-to-date on EDC
information potentially leading to new investment, andprojects and initiatives. Social media platforms include:
visits with existing companies.
Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and a new Brightside
Facebook page.
In 2015, EDC president Valerie Shaffer made 103
meaningful contacts with site selectors, brokers, and Brightsidecompany representatives. These connections were We continue to believe strongly in the need to share themade at conferences, on sales trips to major markets positive stories from our community. Brightside is theand at specifically targeted events. These connections perfect vehicle to do that from. Renee Doty, manager of
led to 7 new attraction projects actively considering community affairs, worked extensively with writer, Mike
Wayne County for new investments with 1 project Bennett to cover 16 positive news stories from local
nearing their final location decision (Project Dove).
companies, nonprofits and communities. Brightside
shared stories about the people who make investments
The EDC responded to 7 requests for information from in their hometowns and show how their hometowns arecompanies seeking a location for new investment. The better because of their efforts. We created a Facebook
EDC also hosted 11 site visits where site consultants page for Brightside that allows us to share even moreand company representatives toured prospective good news. We’re looking forward to growing bothbuildings and land in industrial parks.
the Facebook page “likes” and the stories we share on
abrightside.org in the year to come.
Business retention and expansion outreach resulted in
56 visits made to local companies which lead to 11 local
expansion projects underway, with 4 in planning stages.

Top Rankings

Cost of Living Index

Website Refresh Project:

w Design and production of a new motion graphics
promotional video which is the focal point of the new
homepage and can also be used in other marketing
efforts

w Creation of 5 new interactive maps for location, ports,
highways, airports and railroads

w New page featuring a Japanese translation of theJapanese Resources pagew Streamlining navigational pathways
w Creating new charts and combinations to organize
data sets more concisely

Each year the EDC participates in the Cost of Living
Index developed by The Council for Community andEconomic Research. The index measures regional
differences in the cost of consumer goods and services,
excluding taxes and non-consumer expenditures, forprofessional and managerial households. The index isbased on more than 50,000 prices covering almost 60
different items for which prices are collected three times ayear by chambers of commerce, economic development
organizations or other pertinent organizations inparticipating areas. Since the data is based on urban
areas, Richmond is the collection site. During 2015,
Richmond ranked 3rd on the Top 10 Least Expensive
Urban Areas, the only Indiana city to make the list.

w Updating photos and text to increase promotion of Top 10 Micropolitan

Richmond ranked among the top 25 micropolitansin Site Selection Magazine’s prestigious Governor’s
w New page for placement of the full-page ad ran in Site Cup issue. Ranked at 13th, Richmond was the only
Selection Magazine promoting Wayne County’s Cost community in Indiana to make the Top 25. A micropolitanof Living and Top 25 Micropolitan rankings
includes cities with a population of 10,000 to 50,000.
Ranking was based on investment, jobs, and projects
that involved new construction.
Wayne County’s quality of life assets

WORKFORCEDEVELOPMENT
The EDC is involved in a number of different workforce
development initiatives and partnerships targeted
at increasing the skills of the existing and emerging
workforce. Joe Henry, manager of existing businessand education, joined the staff in the newly createdposition in 2015. Since his arrival, Joe has been working
with local high schools and companies to develop
partnerships among the two and establish internshipprograms. High school students who are interested
in pursuing a career in manufacturing can work at
local companies. Interns get paid for doing a job andget valuable experience. Companies get a dedicatedemployee and the ability to help students learn more
about careers in manufacturing. Efforts are underway todevelop additional partnerships with area high schools
and our employers.

Certified Work Ready Community Initiative

their juniors and seniors for the third year. Other school
districts are working towards implementing WorkKeys
testing as well. One of the goals achieved was the
support of area companies. Working with our workforce
development partners, Wayne County was able tosecure 77 companies to support the CWRC initiative,
the highest response rate in the region. The county also
far exceeded its goal for testing the current workforce.

Wayne County is close to achieving the Certified Work
Ready Community (CWRC) designation. We continue
to work to reach our goal for WorkKeys testing of
our transitioning and emerging workforce. The EDC
worked with the Excel Center in Richmond to become a
WorkKeys testing location for their students. In addition,
the Nettle Creek School Corporation is on track to test

OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS
IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The EDC would like to thank our community partners who
support us financially. Without their continued support wewould not be able to facilitate growth and investment inWayne County.

2015 EDC Staff

Valerie Shaffer

President
valerie@edcwc.com
10 years of service

Renee Doty

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

Cambridge City

MiltonCentervilleMount Auburn

EconomyRichmond

Hagerstown

Wayne County

Alaina Geres

Office Manager
alaina@edcwc.com
4 years of service

Joe Henry

Manager of Existing
Business & Education
joe@edcwc.com
1 year of service

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