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LaporteCounty.Biz
Rolls Out The Red Carpet For Brokers
A reception at the Blue Chip Casino on July 17 provided networking opportunities for local industrial and commercial real estate agents and an opportunity for local officials to boast about La Porte County’s business advantages. On July 18, participants enjoyed golf at Briar Leaf Golf Course or charter fishing, lunch at Briar Leaf followed by presentation and a tour of available properties... "Real estate brokers are the single best source for industrial location prospects," said John Regetz, Executive Director of the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC). “Events such as our Brokers Excursion are effective economic development tools that connect the right people with the right opportunities.” "La Porte County has wonderful recreational attractions, quality industrial sites and a great business tax climate," said Tim Gropp, Executive Director of the Greater LaPorte Economic Development Corporation (GLEDC). “This event provides a great opportunity to showcase what La Porte County has to offer to new industrial prospects.” Local economic development officials assisted with guiding the participants during activities and were available to answer questions the participants may have had.
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The Economic Development Community Investment Fund and it Circle of Investors have had a significant positive impact on LaPorte County’s economy. The Broker Excursion is conducted with revenues from the Fund and sponsorships and has garnered LaPorte County recognition with industrial real estate brokers as a premier industrial location. Electronic mailings are “eblasted” to site selectors and the LaPorteCounty.Biz web site are funded. Experts such as Michael Gallis and Bob Ady are also sponsored with campaign proceeds. The Economic Development Community Investment Fund simply enables LaPorte County EDC’s to do together the promotions they could not do individually. Another benefit of Circle of Investors is the collaborative effort that emerges LaPorteCounty.Biz teams up to participate in Northwest Indiana Forum and IEDC marketing trade conferences such as Chicago Industrial Properties, Building Indiana, Date with Nate and the Chicago Trade Mission. Tours of CenterPoint Intermodal Park at Elwood, IL were sponsored by LaPorteCounty.Biz and LaPorte County Logistics Task Force. Several prospects have also been collaboratively located including Indiana Flex Fuels, Van Air and Sullivan-Palatek. The result is that LaPorte County’s manufacturing employment increased in the past 4 years, while that of larger Northwest Indiana counties decreased. Without the Economic Development Community Investment Campaign, most of these projects would not be possible. CIP Conference Attended On June 19th Representatives from the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation and the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corporation joined officials from the Northwest Indiana Forum and NIPSCO at the Chicago Industrial Properties Industrial Summit held in Rosemont, Illinois. The Industrial Summit is a half day conference focusing on networking and current financial and economic data in the industrial sector. The Indiana contingent also sponsored several activities for the previous evening to network and discuss projects with developers and industrial and commercial real estate brokers. The CIP Industrial Summit was attended by 400 industrial real estate owners, investors, brokers, developers, finance sources, construction firms, design/build, architects and service providers. LaPorteCounty.Biz team attends the event to establish connections to industrial real estate brokers and site selectors. LaPorte City Successes Indiana Flex Fuels LLC, a new La Porte County biodiesel company, was energized with a $500,000 renewable energy grant presented at a ribbon cutting ceremony at its new plant in Kingsbury Industrial Park in March. Dennis Zeedyk, president of the new company, received a $500,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture grant intended to encourage development of more environmentally friendly fuels. Zeedyk credited U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, for assistance with the lengthy grant application. Zeedyk is partnering with Xenerga, an Orlando, Fla., company, to launch the first U.S. plant designed to produce five million gallons of biodiesel a year. It will take in animal fats and used cooking oil and convert them to biodiesel. Local truckers will transport the biodiesel to Eco-Energy in Franklin, Tenn., an alternative fuel broker for ethanol manufacturers. After conducting site research, Zeedyk chose the La Porte County location. "It was the best site in the United States," Zeedyk said. "It has access to rail, roads and feedstock’s." In December, county officials granted Zeedyk a 10-year tax abatement on $21.5 million in equipment and approved a variance for development of the plant on a 20-acre parcel south of Hupp Road. The company is expected to create 27 jobs and invest about $3.6 million, contributing some $256,000 in property taxes. B&B Manufacturing B&B Manufacturing was granted permission from the La Porte Redevelopment Commission to utilize the Urban Enterprise Zone Investment Deduction to assist in their addition of 11,000 sq. ft. of additional manufacturing space. The investment will add one new line of manufacturing equipment and retrain their workforce for more advanced manufacturing requirements. The project is currently under construction. Lewis Bakeries Lewis Bakeries, headquartered in Evansville, IN, has started construction on a $5 million expansion of their La Porte Bakery. The new space will be used for distribution. Future plans include adding another baking line. Lewis Bakeries is the largest wholesale bakery in Indiana. Their brands include Bunny, Butternut, Cinnabon, Roman Meal, Sun Maid, and Healthy Life. Other News
MICHIGAN CITY SUCCESSES Commercial Glass Manufacturer to Expand Its Michigan City Operations MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (May 9, 2008) - Trainor Glass, a designer, manufacturer and installer of custom glass doors, walls and storefronts, announced today it will expand its national drafting center here, creating up to 50 total jobs by 2010. The Illinois-headquartered company, whose custom glassworks were used in the renovation of Chicago's Midway and O'Hare airports, will invest more than $1.9 million to consolidate its Illinois and Indiana drafting operations into a newly purchased 20,000 square-foot facility in the northwest Indiana city that will serve as the company's expanded national drafting center. "We are proud that Trainor selected Indiana for its new consolidated drafting center. We have worked hard to create a competitive environment that encourages businesses like Trainor to grow in Indiana," said Governor Mitch Daniels. Trainor, which employs 28 associates at its existing Michigan City drafting center and more than 500 across the country, plans to begin hiring drafting and computer aided-design associates to staff the new national drafting center in the summer of 2008 to coincide with the opening of the new facility. "Michigan City offers us a skilled workforce with easy access to qualified job candidates for our CAD department," said Bob Trainor, chief executive officer of Trainor Glass Company. "We're pleased with the opportunity to partner with the city and the state to make our expansion in Northwest Indiana a reality." The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Trainor Glass up to $60,000 in performance-based tax credits and $12,500 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. Michigan City will provide property tax abatement and additional infrastructure assistance at the request of the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation. "The Trainor drafting center provides further evidence that the world is served by businesses in Indiana," said Mayor Charles Oberlie. "We acknowledge the great cooperation of our state partner in developing an economic package to assist the company in this project as well as the support of our local technical training institutions." The announcement of Trainor Glass Company's expansion in northwest Indiana comes two months after Allied Waste announced plans to establish a new regional customer and financial support center in Morocco, Ind., creating 350 new jobs. About Trainor Glass Company Michigan City'S North End And Marina Go Wireless On May 8th, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held to mark the official designation and opening of a WiFi Zone located in the north end of Michigan City, including the marina. The Zone covers an area from 11th Street north to the marina and from Wabash Street east to Pine Street. The development of the WiFi Zone is a project that began several years ago through the efforts of the Michigan City Economic Development Corporation’s (MCEDC) Technology Committee. It is a partnership with the City of Michigan City, NetNITCO and the MCEDC. “This is indeed a great boost for the City’s north end as we move forward in our efforts toward future development in this area” stated Mayor Chuck Oberlie. Businesses, residents, boaters and visitors now have access to conduct business or send emails from any outside north end location, including the marina. The WiFi wireless broadband connection allows the capability to do anything that can be done from a home or office, including surfing the Web, playing on line games, updating blogs and checking emails. And it’s all FREE! Tim Bietry, President of the Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the MCEDC Technology Committee commented, “This new system will be a wonderful asset to our community. It will provide our businesses with a competitive advantage and another tool to attract customers and visitors to the City’s north end business district. ” The WiFi access, provided by NetNITCO, is an open unsecured connection that uses a virtual private network (VPN) for extra protection. Since this system is designed for outside access, most access points may not have the capacity to penetrate buildings; therefore, use of a signal booster to augment a lap top or office computer may be needed. Signal boosters will be available at the Entrepreneur Center Michigan City located at 422 Franklin Street. Local retailers can install equipment inside their businesses to take advantage of this new network. Over the past several months, Hebron, Indiana based NetNITCO installed antennas in various strategic locations in the City’s north end, including one at NIPSCO’s generating station which is located adjacent to the City’s harbor and marina. NetNITCO WiFi is the official SSID network name. “All of us at NetNITCO are excited about this project and our partnership with the City and the MCEDC to bring cutting edge communications technology to Michigan City”, said NetNITCO CEO Rhys Mussman. “We remain committed to working with the community as this initiative continues to evolve”, Mussman added. “On behalf of our Technology Committee, we want to thank NetNITCO for coming forward and providing this new system for our community”, said Kevin Kieft, MCEDC Business Development Manager and committee staff member. Remember To Contact Preferred Vendors The contributors, partners and staff of LaPorteCounty.Biz appreciate the contributions made to the Economic Development Community Investment Fund and the program support the Circle of Investors have shown. Another way to demonstrate appreciation for our teammates in community development is to utilize the excellent services and goods they provide. Please access the Preferred Vendors page of La Porte County’s Economic Development web sites (http://www.laportecounty.biz, http://www.gledc.com, http://www.mc-edc.com) when planning your next project or purchase. Let’s support each other to help ensure we can cultivate our community’s prosperity. |
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