2017 Annual Reportwww.whywaynecounty.com

900 North E Street, Suite 100• Richmond, Indiana 47374 • 765-983-4769

Overview

Jeff Jackson, 2017 Chair

Economic development means diﬀerent things to each of us. It may becourting a new employer; assisting an existing employer in its eﬀort to expand;facilitating or leading eﬀorts to improve the skills of our workforce; educating
the public about available job opportunities; showing prospects existing
facilities or green ﬁeld locations; providing information on utilities, workforce,
community and infrastructure availability; building relationships with brokers,site selectors and other economic development professionals; assisting with
infrastructure development projects; seeking out industrial park expansion or
new industrial park sites; promoting the area’s quality of life; gathering data
to support cost of living reports; or generally doing whatever can be done tocapitalize on the assets of the community. But the one objective of economic
development in Wayne County that any of these activities must support is
GROWING JOBS.

Valerie and the entire staﬀ of the EDC understand that their role is to GROW JOBS. And it isn’t just the number of jobs
they strive to grow, but the quality of the jobs being added. When they rolled out the “Home In Wayne” marketing
campaign last Thanksgiving, the goal wasn’t just to make us “feel good” about Wayne County, but to remind us andformer residents who were home for the holidays that there are good jobs right here. When you combine that factwith our extremely low cost of living, short commute times, cultural amenities, and family who live close by maybe
some of those who grew up locally will decide to return and again make their “Home in Wayne”. When these people
return, they bring with them new and diﬀerent skills and experiences to share and employ. They return home to help
us GROW JOBS.
Economic development is a process. Ongoing eﬀorts to improve infrastructure and access to the Midwest Industrial
Park to accommodate Blue Buﬀalo and the rest of the park are a part of the process as is promoting job opportunities
by supporting and leading the launch of Hoosier Opportunity, a website for employers in Jay, Randolph, and Wayne
counties serving job seekers from all over. Other eﬀorts to support economic development and job growth include
the “Find a Job Friday” program which introduces employers to area students interested in after-graduation job
opportunities. The EDC also increased its participation in the Japan-America Society of Indiana to encourage additional
new investment by Japanese companies here in Wayne County. This year, the EDC supported expansion projects by
Richmond Casting Company, Vandor Corporation, TBK America, Inc., Silgan White Cap Corporation, Osborn, DOT
Transportation, and Lintech International.
This was my second chance to chair the EDC Board. And as we move forward in 2018, which will be the 25th Anniversaryof the EDC, in my opinion the current EDC is better prepared than ever to lead and assist Wayne County in its eﬀort
to GROW JOBS now and into the future.

2017 Officers

Chair - Jeﬀ Jackson (Mayor of the City of Richmond)
Vice-Chair - Tim Frame (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)
Treasurer - Lee Elzemeyer (Wayne County Commissioners)
Secretary - Robert Warner (Hagerstown Town Council)
Immediate Past Chair - Paul Witte (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)

2017 Board of Directors
Johnnie Barrett (Centerville Town Council)
Beth Leisure (Cambridge City Town Council)
Larry Parker (Richmond Common Council)
Josh Russell (Wayne County Council)(Appointing bodies)

Sayward Salazar (Mayor of the City of Richmond)
Tracie Upchurch (Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce)
Susan Yaeger (Wayne County Commissioners)

Recognition

EDC Staff

Economic Development
Partnership Award

This year we’d like to recognize Robert Warner for his time andeﬀort in helping navigate several complicated and challenging
projects for the EDC. Bob was appointed to the EDC Board of
Directors in 2014 by the Hagerstown Town Council where heserved as town manager for six and a half years before becoming
the Wayne County Highway Engineer in June of 2014. Prior tothat, Bob had worked for 25 years at two industrial facilities
and two consulting ﬁrms. He has a master’s degree in Civil
Robert Warner
Engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem Pennsylvania
and received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He’sa registered Professional Engineer in Indiana and Ohio and was named Young Engineer of theYear by the Indiana Chapter of the National Society of Professional Engineers in 1991.
Bob’s diverse experience and knowledge have made him a valuable member of our team. He’s
been instrumental in his role as county engineer in leading and managing the Gaar-Jackson
and Round Barn road improvements that will provide tenants in the Midwest Industrial
Park and other nearby industrial users the ability to safely utilize exit 145 oﬀ Interstate 70
in Centerville. He’s been highly involved in helping to craft the best option for the future of
the Western Wayne Regional Sanitary District to cost-eﬀectively serve its customers whileplanning for new commercial and industrial growth in and around the Gateway Industrial
Park. Serving on the EDC’s Industrial Park Committee, Bob has been integral in developing
strategies to acquire additional land for industrial park expansion in Richmond.
Bob has served on the Industrial Park Committee since being appointed to the EDC board. He
became chair of the committee in 2014 and continues in that role. Bob also served as treasurer
in 2016, secretary in 2017, and currently serves as vice chair. Bob was reappointed to a second
three-year term in 2017 by the Hagerstown Town Council. Bob and his wife have called Wayne
County home since moving here in 1982. We are grateful for the wealth of experience anddedication Bob brings to the EDC and our community!

Valerie Shaffer
President
valerie@whywaynecounty.com
12 years of service

Renee Doty
Manager of Community
Affairs
renee@whywaynecounty.com
15 years of service

Alaina Geres
Office Manager
alaina@whywaynecounty.com
6 years of service

Outgoing Board Members
The EDC of Wayne County is happy torecognize the contributions of two outgoingboard members: Tracie Upchurch and Lee
Elzemeyer.
Tracie Upchurch was appointed by the Wayne
County Area Chamber of Commerce in 2011 toserve the remainder of a term for a previous
appointee. She was then reappointed by the
Chamber for her ﬁrst three-year term in 2012
and again for her second three-year term in2015. Tracie served as the vice chair of theboard of directors in 2012, chair in 2013, andpast chair in 2014. She was a member of theMarketing and Communication Committee
during her entire tenure on the EDC board,and chaired the committee in 2012. Tracie still
continues to serve on this committee.

Lee Elzemeyer was appointed to the board
by the Wayne County Commissioners in2012 and served two consecutive three-year
terms. Lee served as treasurer in 2013 and2014. He served as the chair in 2015 and past
chair in 2016. He again served as treasurer
in 2017. In addition, he also served on theMarketing and Communication Committee in
2012.
The EDC was fortunate to have these twooutstanding board members volunteer theirtime and eﬀort to improving the economy
and quality of life for Wayne County. Theirtime, eﬀort, and talents are appreciated not
only by the EDC, but also by the entities they
were chosen to represent.

Sarah Mitchell
Manager of Existing
Business & Education
sarah@whywaynecounty.com
First year of service

Partnering
Communities
Cambridge City
Centerville
EconomyHagerstown
MiltonMt. AuburnRichmond
Wayne County

Business Development
Richmond Casting
Company

The gray and ductile iron casting company, locatedat 1775 Rich Road, has been in Richmond for almost
40 years. In 2017, the company made the decision toinvest in their plant, receiving a $10,000 Economic
Development Income Tax (EDIT) grant. The
project retained 28 jobs and the company invested$545,000. The expansion included the purchase of
new machinery which creates the molds in whichmolten iron is poured to produce a casting. The newmachinery replaced older, less eﬃcient equipment
and allows the company to produce a stronger
mold as well as increasing eﬃciency and reducing
maintenance costs.

Pictured from left to right:
Ray Gregory, Vice President of Operationsand Gill McBride, President/CEO

Vandor Corporation

This locally-owned and operated company expanded
their funeral products division, investing $1.8 million
and creating 30 new full-time jobs. The EDC provided
a $26,000 EDIT grant to assist with the purchase andinstallation of new machinery at their second plant
located at 1620 Rich Road in Richmond. The new
equipment allows the company to produce standard

value hardwood caskets. Vandor Corporation wasestablished in Richmond in 1972, beginning withthe production of precision die cut casket interior
components. Since then, Vandor has added numerous
patented products sold in North America in both funeraland non-funeral related industries.

TBK America, Inc.

The Japan-based supplier of water pumps forlarge trucks expanded their product line toinclude the assembly of oil and lube pumps.
The EDC provided a $27,000 EDIT grant toassist with the purchase and installation of
new equipment, tooling and retooling, as
well as new ﬁxtures. The company invested$1.8 million and has committed to creating
21 new full-time jobs. The company is a Tier 1
automotive supplier with customers all overthe globe. They located in Richmond’s Midwest
Industrial Park at 3700 West Industries Road
in 2008. TBK America is the company’s ﬁrst
North American facility.

Silgan White Cap Corporation
The company made a $2.5 million investment in upgrades
to existing equipment in 2017. The EDC assisted with the
project by providing a $10,752 EDIT grant for training
on the new upgrades for 20 employees. The company,
located at 1701 Williamsburg Pike, manufactures caps

for a number of diﬀerent food and beverage producers
globally. The Richmond location is one of eight Silgan
White Cap manufacturing plants located throughout
the United States.

Business Development
OsbornOsborn consolidated it’s Richmond, Virginia
operations into the North American ﬁnishingheadquarters located in Richmond, Indiana.
The move created 47 new jobs and retained 20
existing jobs. The relocation resulted in newcapital investment totaling $2.3 million in the
Richmond plant. This is the ﬁfth expansion atOsborn’s Richmond facility, which located at2350 Salisbury Road in the Midwest Industrial
Park in 2004. While Osborn did not accept anoﬀer of an EDIT grant for the project, the EDC
assisted with building a strong business case for
the Virginia plant to relocate here to Indiana. A
unit of Jason Inc., Osborn manufactures highquality technical and maintenance brushes andpolishing buﬀs for hundreds of commercial andconsumer applications.

Lintech International, LLC

Based out of Macon, Georgia, Lintech International
recently purchased the former Marvel building that sat
vacant for nearly a decade. Located at 233 Industrial
Parkway, the 119,000 square foot building underwent
upgrades costing upwards of $800,000 that included
a new ﬁre suppression system, security and telephonesystems, temperature-controlled storage areas, andenhancements to oﬃces and conference rooms. Thisbuilding will serve as Lintech’s second warehouseand distribution center. While the company did not

apply for an EDIT grant, the EDC was happy to assist
them with any needs that arose while they were in
the process of purchasing and establishing their new
facility. This project will create six new jobs. Lintech
oﬀers a broad range of distribution and storage
services including industry leading specialty chemical
products, outstanding service, and logistics combinedwith temperature controlled and ﬂammable storage
capabilities.

Dot Transportation, Inc.

With companies all over the nation competingfor truck drivers, Dot Transportation knew they
had to do something creative. They developed
the Earn to Learn Training Program. Training for
new drivers can last between 8 to 10 weeks. As
part of the training program Dot Transportation
covers the cost of CDL driving school. In addition,
new drivers are paid a weekly $500 stipend whilein driving school and during training with anexperienced Dot driver. The EDC partnered with
Dot Transportation to provide a $77,142 EDIT
grant to help oﬀset the cost of training. Dot
Transportation has committed to hiring 36 new
full-time CDL drivers and investing $702,000 intraining. The company will also invest $2.4 million
to purchase 24 new semi-trucks and trailers. Dot
Transportation is a division of Dot Foods which
recently celebrated a decade at their location in
the Gateway Industrial Park at 14600 Gateway
Road in Cambridge City.

2017 Project Summary• Total number of projects: 7• Total new job commitments: 140• Total retained jobs: 48• Total annual payroll: $7,625,426.77• Average wage: $19.50• Total private investment: $12,288,651.50

Did you know...

Richmond ranks consistently on the Cost of Living
Index’s Top 10 Least Expensive Urban Areas list.

WorkforceDevelopment
Development
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AT&T Aspire Grant
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Hoosier
Opportunity
Vandor Corporation

Picturedfrom left
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Soards,and Gill
McBride,President/CEO
Valerie
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Jeff Raatz.

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to connect
job seekers
with employers
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at 1620 Rich
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Inequipment
the ﬁrst yearof
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launched,over
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peoplehave
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Hoosier
Opportunityand 150 companies haveallows the company to produce standard
signed up to use the website. Each partner county supports Hoosier Opportunity with $10,000 in annual advertisingin addition to promotion via social media. Sign up for both companies and job seekers is easy. Once signed upcompanies can post as many jobs as they want at no charge. All jobs posted on the site must pay at least $10 an hourand come from an employer who has a facility located in at least one of three partner counties. The EDC would liketo thank the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce and Richmond Mayor Dave Snow for providing a portion of
the seed money for this important initiative. Find Hoosier Opportunity at hoosieropportunity.com.

#FindaJobFridays

Find a Job Fridays rose out of eﬀorts to promote the Hoosier
Opportunity website. The third Friday of each month
representatives from local companies visit Wayne County
high schools during lunch. They set up booths, much like a
job fair and get a chance to engage with students to talkabout the skills they’re looking for in an employee and career
opportunities available with their company. Students geta chance to ask questions, learn what skills are needed by
employers, and learn about local career opportunities.

Companies who
have participated• Contract Industrial Tooling (CIT)• Dot Foods• Hill’s Pet Nutrition• Primex Plastics• Quanex• Reid HealthWorkforce Development
National ManufacturingDay
The EDC of Wayne County again partnered with
Ivy Tech Community College, Wayne County Area
Chamber of Commerce and local manufacturers
to host students from four Wayne County highschools on plant tours in celebration of National
Manufacturing Day. On October 6th, Hagerstown
and Richmond high school students toured Hill’s
Pet Nutrition, Ahaus Tool and Engineering, andPrimex Plastics. On October 13th Northeasternand Lincoln students toured Sugar Creek,
Contract Industrial Tooling (CIT), and Osborn.
As part of the tours the students were alsoable to visit Ivy Tech’s career training labs.
Students were able to see how products are
made and learn about career opportunities
and skills needed to work at local companies.
The EDC would like to thank the companies
who were willing to open their doors fortours and for sponsoring T-shirts and lunch
for the students.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition

Primex Plastics

Industrial Park Development
Infrastructure Improvements

The EDC worked with many partners to plan for several
utility upgrades at both Wayne County industrial parks.
Utility upgrades at the Midwest Industrial Park in
Richmond were made to support Blue Buﬀalo, but will
also serve current and future tenants as well:•Construction began on widening Round Barn and GaarJackson roads to bring the roadways up to truck grade
standards to ensure truck traﬃc could safely access theCenterville interchange on Interstate 70 to and from thepark. This was a collaborative eﬀort initiated by the EDC
but supported by Wayne County, the City of Richmondand Town of Centerville. County Highway Engineer Bob
Warner led the eﬀorts. The project is expected to becompleted by fall of 2018.
•Vectren Energy Delivery installed a new regulator
station on the corner of West Industries and Round Barnroads allowing for the extension of a gas main into Phase
2 of the industrial park.
•Indiana American Water extended a new 20" water
main to ensure adequate water service is available.
•Richmond Power and Light is working on the engineeringand design for a new electrical substation that will be
dedicated to existing and future industrial park tenants.
Blue Buﬀalo also purchased an additional 35.9 acres inPhase 2 to allow for future expansion opportunities. This
leaves one remaining 32 acre lot available in Phase 2.

The EDC also continues to work with county oﬃcials
to ﬁnd wastewater solutions for the Indiana Gateway
Industrial Park. Capacity is needed to support existing
industrial customers in the park that will also allow
for additional capacity to be added in the future. The
Gateway Industrial Park is located oﬀ Interstate 70 at the
Cambridge City/Hagerstown interchange, exit 137.

Community Development
Former Reid Hospital
Demolition

The EDC Board of Directors were proud to partner with
the City of Richmond, Wayne County and Reid Health byapproving the use of $1,420,000 of Consolidated EDIT dollars
to aid in the clean-up and demolition of the former hospitalbuilding. The abandoned structure had become an eye soreand safety hazard along Chester Boulevard (U.S. 27), oneof Richmond’s busiest corridors. Soon the structure will bedemolished and the site cleaned up and ready for the EDC toassist in marketing to prospective users.

We Moved!

2017 was a year of change for us at the
EDC. We left our home of over 20 years
and moved into the newly renovatedhistoric Depot Building located at 900
North E Street in the Depot District.
Not only is the new location moreaccessible and our oﬃce more visible
we are also contributing to helping
with the revitalization eﬀorts in thegrowing Depot District.

Marketing, Sales & Public Relations

Home in Wayne Holiday Campaign

Toward the end of 2017 the EDC launched a new awareness campaign.
We needed a way to get the message out that many things have changedin Wayne County. Home in Wayne was created to focus on Millennials,
particularly those who had once lived here and might be interested incoming back in an eﬀort to reverse population decline and enhance ourlabor pool.
At the core of the campaign is a website(homeinwayne.com) that helps people
rediscover Wayne County and provides
data on topics like work, dwell andlive. We placed table tents, posters,
and coasters in locally owned bars
and restaurants, places people
are likely to go during visits withfriends and families. These materials
directed people to the website as well as
encouraged them to share their experiences on social
media using a designated hashtag, #homeinwayne. We sent postcards
to “empty nesters” encouraging them to share the website with theirfamily members who might be home to visit during the holidays. We
also ran radio ads on both local stations between Thanksgiving and New
Year’s. The feedback we received from area businesses was positive andtraﬃc to the website during the six-week timeframe was strong. Eﬀorts
will continue in 2018.

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What kind of life do you imagine for yourself? Now what’s stopping you from having it? Wayne County
is home to all kinds of people working on creating the lives they’ve always wanted. Together they’re
reshaping their communities and building new ones from the ground up, filling them with memories
and experiences all their own.
Find out why it’s so good to be home in Wayne County, Indiana.

HomeinWayne.com

East Central Indiana
Livability Magazine

The East Central Indiana Regional
Partnership publishes a magazine thatshowcases the quality of life in our
region. In 2017 we, along with the Wayne
County Area Chamber of Commerce
and the Wayne County Convention andTourism Bureau, placed a full-page ad in
the magazine promoting Home in Wayne.
These magazines will be distributed
through area businesses and placed in
hotels and motels across the region. The
magazine is also provided to site selectors
and company representatives who
visit looking for locations to make newinvestments. Companies can also use themagazine in their employee recruitment
eﬀorts.

whywaynecounty.com

Japan-America Society of Indiana (JASI)JASI plays a large role in helping connect Japanese investors with
communities in Indiana. They were instrumental in assisting withplanning of the 2016 Japan mission for East Central Indiana in which
Valerie Shaﬀer and Richmond Mayor Dave Snow participated. Six
Japanese companies have locations in Wayne County. To underscorethe importance of the Japanese investment in Wayne County the EDC
provided a sponsorship toward the construction of the new JASI Culture
Center located in the historic Union Station building in downtown
Indianapolis. The sponsorship provides visibility for Wayne County on thedonor wall located in the culture center. The new center will allow JASI
to greatly expand its services and we’re happy to be able to assist JASI in
completing this important project.

As marketing strategies for economic
development
organizations
becamemore place based we felt we needed
to make a change to our URL to moreaccurately reﬂect our location as opposedto the acronym for our organization. A
location-based web address would also
boost search engine optimization. We
knew we would be changing many of ourprinted products to reﬂect our new oﬃce
address so it was a good time to change
our URL. After polling the Marketing andCommunication Committee we chose
whywaynecounty.com. This address not
only reﬂects our location, but also provides
us with new marketing options. Our former
URL, edcwc.com still functions so we canbe found with whichever address is beingused.

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www.linkedin.com/company/EconomicDevelopmentCorporationofWayneCountyIndiana
twitter.com/edcofwayneco
https://www.facebook.com/Brightside-868828606569050/*Cover drone photography courtesy of Kevin Shook, That Drone Guy, LLC