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Economic Development News

• ATTC Manufacturing Expanding Again
• Manufacturing-Certification program graduates 38
• Port board eyes road improvement
• Officials OK funds for new industry
• Countywide EDC Given Council OK
• Wheel Company Rolls into Perry County
• Two-way Video Technology Comes to Perry County
• Group to establish local learning center - Tell City will fund coordinator’s salary
• CALLING IN SUCCESS — New in-call center continues to grow, could employ 225 by year’s end
• Officials say local economy performing well
• Perry County Companies Honored with Half Century Business Awards
• ACCENT To Open Communications Center in Tell City
• Tall Order in Tell City, Director Lures Development to Perry County Despite Tough Odds.
• Japanese parts maker eyeing Perfect Fit
• Perry County Leads Southwestern Indiana in Percentage of Economic Growth

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Economic Development News in Perry County, Indiana

...Economic Development Works, But Takes Time
Greg Wathen, executive director of the Perry County Development Corporation, believes his county can become great and told his board that in March: “We possess the ability to become a great community, not just a good one."

Pointing to the 30 years it took for Wal-Mart to explode into the world’s largest corporation, however, he pointed out, “Becoming great doesn’t take place overnight.” Six new companies have located in the county in the past 10 years, generating investment of more than $300 million and employing more than 1,000 workers. The county’s newest company is Webb Wheel Products, the most technologically advanced manufacturer in the county with equipment that does not currently exist in other North American companies.

To view or download the PDF of the entire article, click here.

ATTC Manufacturing Expanding Again

ATTC Manufacturing Inc., which has already invested over $50 million in Perry County in less than four years, will begin the new year by expanding its automotive-machining operation in Perry County.

The $11 million expansion of its plant in the Perry County Industrial Park South will add 55,000 square feet. When completed, ATTC's total manufacturing, warehouse and office space will be 215,000 square feet. The expansion will create another 15 new jobs.

In a release the company's top executive said growth of the manufacturing facility will better serve its customers.

"This expansion is the result of the quality products the Perry County labor force generates for our company," said Katsumi Uesugi, president of ATTC Manufacturing Inc. "This dedicated employee base allows us to further expand the scope of our operations while better serving our customers. We are pleased to see this expansion coming so soon."

ATTC Manufacturing purchased the former Perfect Fit pillow-making facility in February 2001. The company announced a 66,000 square foot, $3 million expansion in March 2002. When next year's project is complete, the company will have invested $63.3 million in Perry County. A subsidiary of Aisin Takaoka Co., ATTC now employs 243 people in Perry County.

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Manufacturing-Certification program graduates 38

By Vince Lueke, Editor, Perry County News 12/1/04
The first men and women to graduate from a new manufacturing-certification program are optimistic the instruction they received over the past three months will give them the skills to succeed in the county's evolving job market.

Thirty-eight graduates of the Perry County Basic Skills Manufacturing Certification Program, which began in August, were honored last Monday at the Tell City Schergens Center. Each successfully completed four modules: math, basic communication skills, fundamental business and manufacturing concepts and workplace responsibilities. Each module required 24 hours of classroom training, taken in four-hour classes meeting two evenings a week.

Developed by the Perry County Learning Partnership, the certification program is offered at no cost to county residents. The Southwest Indiana Network for Education has agreed to fund the classes for 120 participants.

Ed Zellers, chairman of the learning partnership and personnel manager at Waupaca Foundry, lauded graduates for their commitment to the program. "We're all very proud of you," he said in passing on congratulations from fellow members of the partnership board, representatives from Indiana State University, the Community Learning Center of Perry County, local elected leaders and module instructors.

The Tell City Economic Development Commission has committed two years' funding to create the learning center. ISU serves as the center's fiscal agent and coordinates some of its activities with other centers it operates in the state. Local officials are hoping to include funding for the center in the state's budget once the city's commitment ends at the end of next year.

Abigail Miley, who recently left the job of coordinator for the community learning center, assisted students in the inaugural class.

The certification program was created to improve the job skills of Perry Countians interested in manufacturing jobs. Graduates aren't guaranteed jobs, but several county-based employers have pledged to give certified workers priority in filling future vacancies.

In a News story announcing the program this summer, Zellers said he was certain the certification program will improve the chances of securing jobs at local manufacturers. "If an individual came to (Waupaca) with this certification, they would get the highest level of consideration, which in most cases would be an interview," Zellers said.

In the same story, learning partnership board member Bill Borders, president of William Tell Woodcrafters-Swiss Plywood, said completion of the certification program would serve as evidence to him of an applicant's willingness to succeed. "The simple fact that a person has completed this much seat time would indicate a willingness to work hard," Borders said.

Dustin Anderson of Tell City said he was more than satisfied with the training he received and credited instructors and his fellow students for their dedication. "We had a great time and I think we all learned a lot," Anderson said.

Fellow graduate Casey Hall said she learned about the expectations of employees working for modern manufacturing companies and the importance of technology in local plants. "I'd recommend the program for anybody," the 24-year-old said.

Several of the students, who ranged from recent high-school graduates and young married couples to men and women in their 50s, said the skills they learned were worth the commitment of time and being away from loved ones.

Diane Hendricks, who admitted her children weren't used to her being away in the evening, said she'll be much more optimistic when applying for jobs. She said the program has taught her to present prospective employers with a positive job application that stresses her strengths. "I'm more confident now," she said.

Hall, who said she is a single mother, agreed, saying she wants to find a better job that will help improve her son's life.

Greg Wathen, executive director of the Perry County Development Corp., said the training program will be recognized by the state, meaning graduates' work will be acknowledged anywhere in the state and creating what he called a "portable" set of job skills.

But Wathen and Zellers expressed hope graduates will be putting their job skills to use at home. At least two members of the first class have already found employment.

A second manufacturing-skills class is now forming, with courses expected to start in January. For more information, contact the Community Learning Center of Perry County at 547-6883.

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Port board eyes road improvement

By KEVIN KOELLING Managing Editor, Perry County News
The Perry County Port Authority needs to assemble a committee to examine the feasibility of turning River Road into a route useful for truck traffic, authority board member Bill Goffinet said at a regular meeting Monday.

Tell City, Cannelton and Perry County government officials have expressed frustration in the past at the unimproved road on the river side of the floodwall because illegal dumpers and four-wheel-drive "mudders" are among the few who find uses for it. Trucks approaching Tell City from the new Indiana 237 could access the port via the River Road intersection with Indiana 66, eliminating their need to travel through the city.

Goffinet said the River Road issue has been discussed numerous times in the past. Barriers to the construction of a road above flood level include financial concerns. "We should get an (economic-development) grant, but whether there will be money for industrial development, I don't know. Everything's going to change. There won't be a Department of Commerce."

In 2003, the General Assembly created the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to assume the duties and responsibilities of the Department of Commerce, according to an Oct. 20 news release from the campaign office of Mitch Daniels, who won the governor's seat in the Nov. 2 election. By law, the Department of Commerce is scheduled to close July 1. Daniels would seek legislative approval to accelerate that date and transfer all resources and powers to the new IEDC as soon as possible, the release notes.

Goffinet said city officials and the Perry County Development Corp. should be consulted about the possibility of improving the road.

Dick Neumann, vice president and chief executive officer for the port authority, said he and board member Alvin Evans were considering "some hard market studies ... to find out who the movers and shakers are in river traffic." That examination will help the board determine, he said, "do we need to make some infrastructure improvements? If so, what direction?" Efforts such as a study of transportation needs within a 25-mile radius of the Tell City Port and creation of a marketing brochure have been completed, and "Now it's time for the next step."

Neumann reported "rail volumes are good" and six barges of pig iron were projected to transit the port this month, with another half-dozen projected for December.
He said, too, he has communicated with customers about a provision in recent federal legislation that could benefit short-line railroads. He said at last month's meeting he was uncertain whether the benefit could be applied to government entities such as the Hoosier Southern Railroad, business name for the port authority. The Internal Revenue Service was to make that call, and he said Monday he was still awaiting their decision. "I'm confident it will be favorable."

The board also approved a budget for 2005 that projects revenues at just over $1.36 million and expenses of approximately $1.2 million. Neumann projected a year ago this year would bring a $168,000 profit and said Wednesday it's too soon to be sure, but it appeared the port-rail agency was approaching that mark.

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Officials OK funds for new industry

By Kevin Koeling, Managing Editor, Perry County News 7/22/04
TELL CITY - Members of the county redevelopment commission and redevelopment authority met in a joint session Monday to continue movement forward on efforts to site a new industry adjacent to Waupaca Foundry.

Financing for site improvements at the Perry County Riverview Industrial Park was ensured through one resolution by the redevelopment commission approving the issuance and sale of two economic-development-revenue bonds and pledging tax-increment-financing revenues and another accepting two real-estate appraisals for the property.

Tax-increment financing allows revenues to be captured from increases in a property's tax value arising from investment, and is part of an incentive package offered by the county to lure the new business here. It will have no effect on county tax rates, noted Lucy Emison of Ice Miller Legal and Business Advisors, Indianapolis.

The Perry County Development Corp. is borrowing $2,020,000 from German American Financial Advisors and Trust Co. for the improvements, which include an access road to the site proposed for a new 108,000-square-foot facility for Alabama-based Webb Wheel Products.

The company announced in March it plans to invest $25 million to build a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture wheel and drum components for heavy trucks and trailers. Eighty-two people are projected to work at the new plant, earning an average of $14 per hour.

Emison said Webb Wheel Products has guaranteed the company will make up any difference should the TIF funding be deemed insufficient. The property will remain under ownership of the redevelopment authority until the bonds are paid off, she added.

Greg Wathen, executive director of the PCDC, said the company has taken over the site and is hiring subcontractors to perform the site-preparation work. A rumor has arisen that people interested in applying for jobs at the new company can go to a trailer at the site, but it's untrue, according to Wathen and Webb representative Tom Powell. Powell said Wednesday he hopes to hire a human-resources director in the near future, and will then make an announcement or run advertising to inform people how to apply.

Resolutions approved by both the redevelopment commission and authority permit payments on March 1, 1995 and Sept. 3, 1996 bonds to be made Feb. 1 and Aug. 1 each year instead of Jan. 1 and July 1.

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Countywide EDC Given Council OK

Perry County News - 4/10/04
The Perry County Council voted last Friday to create a new county economic development commission to handle the issuance of a proposed community economic development bond to pay for site work at Webb Wheel Products new plant.
The three-person commission will be appointed by county commissioners, with recommendations coming from the county council, commissioners and the Tell City Common Council. Paul Malone was named the county council's nominee, while the Tell City Council nominated Bernard Hermann during their meeting Monday. Commissioners will meet in special session at noon today to formally appoint members to the commission.

Evansville Courier & Press - 3/25/04
Webb Wheel Products announced Wednesday it will build a $22.5 million "state of the art" manufacturing facility in the Perry County Industrial Park near Troy, Ind.

The facility, which is expected to employ 82 workers and amount to an investment of $25 million within two years, will make wheel and drum components for the heavy truck industry.

The plant will be next to Waupaca Foundry, a major supplier of Webb Wheel Products and one of the reasons the company chose to locate in Perry County, according to Kent Finkbiner, vice president and general manager of the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) business unit.

Perry County also was selected over other sites in Indiana and Kentucky because of local efforts to attract the plant, the work ethic of the local population, state assistance in providing training for advanced manufacturing and Perry County's location within 150 miles of many of the company's customers, Finkbiner said.

"What really made the difference in our decision, though, was the community's commitment to business," said Ken Dickson, president of Webb Wheel Products.

Webb Wheel Products is a 60-year-old company based in Cullman, Ala. It makes spoke wheels, hubs, brake drums and rotors for medium and heavy-duty trucks, trailers and buses.

It is a subsidiary of Marmon Highway Technologies, which is a member of the Marmon Group, an international association of manufacturing and service companies with collective annual sales of $5 billion.

Finkbiner said the company would offer a competitive wage and benefit package. Details of that package, however, would be worked out after the company has filled a human resource position for the plant, he said.

Among the local and state incentives are up to $950,0000 in Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credits over a 10-year period; the use of the newly created Hoosier Business Investment Tax Credit; and a $112,500 training grant. The state also will give $150,000 to Perry County to help build public infrastructure for the project.

Perry County will provide an estimated $2.56 million in assistance, including infrastructure improvements, the cost of the land, temporary office space and assistance in screening and hiring workers.

Most of that money, about $1.35 million, will be generated through a Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) around the plant. The TIF funnels property taxes collected from improvements to a property into a special fund to pay for infrastructure improvements.

Local money also will be generated through local option income taxes that will generate about $400,000, said Greg Wathen, executive director of the Perry County Economic Development Corporation. The land is valued at $810,000.

Local officials welcomed the new company during the announcement at the Perry County Courthouse on Wednesday.

"The company that's coming here is absolutely first class," said Pete Franzman, president of the Perry County Council. He said the company had a good environmental record, as well as a tradition of offering high wages and good benefits.

Tim Monger, executive director of the Indiana Department of Commerce, said the announcement was "a testament that we (Indiana residents) are transitioning from a manufacturing state to an advanced manufacturing state."

Tell City Mayor Gayle Strassel said the announcement helps boost a community that has received some bad economic news in recent years. "Today, the economic outlook for Tell City, Perry County and Southern Indiana looks much brighter," she said.

County Commissioner Jody Fortwendel said the location of the plant in Perry County was the result of work by many local officials. "Today's announcement is the best example I can think of teamwork," he said.

Wathen said Webb Wheel's decision to locate in Indiana shows that manufacturing is not dead. "I think today's announcement illustrates that manufacturing can work and does work in Indiana, if you do it right," Wathen said.

Wednesday's announcement marks a homecoming for Webb Wheel. It formerly had a plant in Lebanon, Ind., which it closed to move to Alabama in 1982, Finkbiner said.

Finkbiner said the company has made many moves over the years to remain competitive and better serve customers. "At that time (1982), that was the right decision, moving south into Alabama," he said.

But today's move brings the company closer to an important supplier and some major customers, he said. "Indiana's competitive," Finkbiner added. "It's a competitive place to locate."

In other business on Monday, the School Board voted 5-0 with two members abstaining to hire roofer Billy Durbin at a pay rate of $15.37 to work 260 days annually maintaining the roofs of the school district's various structures. The move was designed to cut expenditures of hiring an outside contractor.

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Two-way Video Technology Comes to Perry County

Evansville Courier & Press, Perry County News - 3/26/04
Some classes at Ivy Tech State College's small satellite campus in Tell City, Ind., may only have four or five students.

But that doesn't mean they can't have a full-time instructor.

The students in Perry County can learn simultaneously with students taking the same course from a full-time instructor on the Evansville campus.

Credit goes to two-way video technology n a system that uses the Internet to move classroom data back and forth between the two sites.

The setup includes special cameras and audio equipment at each site, explained Steven Combs, instructional technologist at Ivy Tech.

The classroom typically features a 27-inch TV (or larger) with a robotic camera mounted atop it.

A microphone and remote control are positioned next to the student at his or her desk. The student can use the remote control to zoom the camera, say, in on himself as he presents an idea or asks a question.

The two-way video also has a wide range of other uses. For example, both Combs and Mary Dentino, a professor and chairman of the business division at Ivy Tech, used the two-way system to take course work for a doctorate's degree from Indiana State University at Terre Haute, Ind.

Combs, who is still working on his dissertation, said without the technology he couldn't have pursued his doctoral studies.

"I couldn't have driven to Indiana State three times a week," he said.

As a student, he said, he found the two-way video less intimidating than being in the actual classroom with the instructor looking at him.

Dentino said she also has used the two-way video to participate in statewide education meetings instead of traveling to Indianapolis once or twice a month to attend.

Students wanting to pursue a graduate degree from Ball State, Purdue, Indiana or Indiana State universities can come to the local Ivy Tech campus and view the instruction from the out-of-town campuses via the two-way video, Combs noted.

Students enrolled at the local Ivy Tech also can stay here and take courses that are not offered locally, but are provided by other Ivy Tech schools.

The two-way video is among the earliest forms of distant education.

But advancements continue to improve its visual and audio qualities, Combs said.

Using existing Internet as the infrastructure makes the two-way video relatively inexpensive. The price of equipment also has dropped.

"We now can buy more of the equipment for the same amount of money than we could four or five years ago," said Combs.

He predicted the next big wave at Ivy Tech will be desktop video.

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Group to establish local learning center -Tell City will fund coordinator's salary

Perry County News
An association of Hoosier universities and colleges will staff and manage a local learning center that could begin offering college courses and employee training programs in Perry County early next year.

Members of the Tell City Economic Development Commission voted last week to commit $120,000 over two years to fund the salary of a learning-center coordinator who will lead the center’s efforts and work with a county-based learning partnership board. If modeled off existing facilities elsewhere in the state, the local center will offer credit and non-credit courses, professional development seminars and customized training for businesses.

The South Central Indiana Educational Association operates six area learning centers in the southern half of the state, including locations in Bedford, Paoli and Seymour. Indiana State University serves as the site manager and fiscal agent for the centers. ISU, Indiana University, Ivy Tech State College, Purdue University and Vincennes University are members of the association, which is headquartered in Bedford.

Funds contributed by the city will come from a $315,000 Lilly Endowment grant awarded the city in 1999. Funding in the state’s biannual budget funds the association’s other centers, Tell City Mayor Bill Goffinet said. While the EDC is footing the first two years of costs, state funding will be sought for later years.

“We’re dedicating money to pay a coordinator for two years,” Goffinet told EDC members. “After that, we’ll be looking for help.”

Goffinet said state legislators will be lobbied in hopes of securing funding in the next state budget.

Envisioned as a learning center when constructed in 1999, the Schergens Center will serve as the hub of learning-center activities, but courses and programs could be offered at other locations. Equipped with distance-learning technology and classrooms, the Schergens Center hosts occasional college classes. Though ISU will hire the coordinator, the city will continue to schedule activities at the center.

Goffinet said ISU will serve as “broker” in recruiting other area schools, such as Ivy Tech and the University of Southern Indiana, to offer courses in the county.

Steve Ray, regional director for the alliance, said center coordinators work to develop programs that meet individual community needs. Coordinators not only organize courses and schedule classes, but provide student support services that include proctoring tests and offering career guidance.

ISU is expected to name a director sometime next month, with classes offered for the spring 2004 semester.

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CALLING IN SUCCESS — New in-call center continues to grow, could employ 225 by year’s end Tuesday, March 11, 2003

By VINCE LUECKE, Editor, Perry County News
Steve Harding is spending a lot of time on the telephone in his first real week on the job. But no one seems to mind. In fact, everyone sitting around Harding, co-workers at Accent Customer Relationship Partners’ Tell City communications center, is talking. That’s their job.

Harding is among a growing number of people employed at the facility, which opened its doors to its first group of employees in November.

“We’re ramping up faster than anticipated,” said Donna Flamion, human resources manager for Accent in Tell City. Since the first group of employees were hired, Accent has regularly brought new employees on board, usually in groups of 25. More than 50 new employees began work last week in the former Big Lots building on Orchard Hill Drive. Flamion predicts up to 225 people will work at the center by year’s end.

Accent has invested approximately $1.75 million to turn former retail space into a state-of-the-art call center. Employees work from cubicles, each equipped with a computer and telephone communications system, in a large open room. Nearby areas are used for training new employees, while adjacent space houses the center’s administrators.

Accent’s Tell City operations currently serve a sole client, Sprint. Accent employees serve as customer service agents for the huge telecommunications company, and answer billing questions, accept payments from Sprint customers and explain the company’s products and services.

Calls from 18 states as far away as Oregon and Nevada are directed by Sprint to the Tell City center, where employees have access to customers’ accounts.

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Officials say local economy performing well

By KEVIN KOELLING, Perry County News 3/05/03
TELL CITY — ATTC Manufacturing has already invested $45 million toward a $65 million goal company officials said in late 2000 they planned to invest within a decade of opening auto-parts production facilities in one of Perry County’s industrial parks. Also projected at the time was the employment of 40 people in the former Perfect Fit building off of Indiana 37.

“Looking back at 2002, the year was quite good,” said Clay Ewing, president of the Perry County Development Corp. board of directors. Addressing attendees at the development corporation’s annual meeting Thursday, he said ATTC has undergone a major expansion, enlarging its facility from 96,000 to 160,000 square feet, and now employs 170 people. Another company new to the county, Accent Customer Relationship Partners, “now employs 70 workers and is on track for adding 60 more within two weeks,” Ewing said.

A little-known company, Serck Aviation, opened a North American service center next to sister company Stewart Warner Aviation in the Tell City Industrial Park, as well, Ewing said, adding to evidence that interest remains strong in Perry County as a place to locate or grow businesses.

PCDC Executive Director Greg Wathen demonstrated the changes in the county’s economy over a longer period, saying the average manufacturing wage has climbed from just over $20,000 in 1991 to $41,000 in 2001. Personal income climbed from $250 million in 1995 to $420 million in 2000.

“Population continues to decline, and that’s a concern for us,” he said. “We’re going to look at a marketing plan that will show Perry County is not just a good place to work, but is a good place to live.”

He said the county is doing well, especially in comparison to other places around the nation.

“In many areas, manufacturing is declining, while ours is growing,” he said. “We’re still below state and national averages, but we’re seeing larger increases — hopefully, we can keep it up. That’s the kind of thing we (the PCDC) want to have an impact on.”

He pointed out the addition or expansion of different types of industry — aerospace and automotive, for example — provides a diversity beneficial to the county. The expansion of Tell City’s Wal-Mart will raise employment there to 300-350 people, Wathen added, and will be an investment that company wouldn’t make if it didn’t feel the community was strong enough to support it.

“Our economy is performing well due to the efforts of the community working together,” he said. “It’s due to the efforts of the people in this room.”

While much has been accomplished, he said, “we still have a long way to go.” One initiative launched to upgrade the skills of the county’s work force is the Perry County Learning Partnership, an effort to bring business and education together so students finishing their schooling are better prepared to step into their first jobs.

Tim Monger, executive director of the Indiana Department of Commerce and guest speaker for the meeting, advocated Energize Indiana, a program being touted by Gov. Frank O’Bannon. If approved by the Legislature, it would “securitize” nearly $1.25 billion, 40 percent of money the state is to receive through a national tobacco settlement.

“We have a budget deficit — why not use that money to plug the deficit?” he asked. Energize Indiana proponents say it will mean 200,000 new high-wage, high-skill jobs; 200,000 additional students in higher-education programs and a growth of per-capita income faster than the national average.

Monger said some are reluctant to make investments in facilities and employees when the economy is questionable, but now is the right time.

“You want to invest when you’re coming out of the trough,” he said, “to invest for an improving economy.”

The 10-year Energize Indiana initiative includes plans to invest in workers, students and business Part of that investment will fund tools to determine whether workers have the skills needed for their jobs, and if not, how to improve their skills. Wathen said a pilot program will be launched locally toward the skills and jobs assessments.

In other business, the PCDC board of directors officers and executive-committee members were re-elected to one-year terms. Ewing will continue to serve as president, Don Etienne as vice president and J.B. Land as secretary-treasurer. Executive-committee members include those three, plus Bill Goffinet, Tom McCart, Pete Franzman and Jon Hartz. McCart and Joe Stuber will serve as private-sector directors.

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Perry County Companies Honored with Half Century Business Awards

4/07/02 - Indianapolis Star, Perry County News
Lt. Governor Joe Kernan presented Half Century Business Awards today
to Tell City’s Hancock Communications, Inc. and Southern Indiana R.E.C., Inc. The awards honor companies that are at least 50 years old and have a history of community service.

Hancock Communications, Inc. was founded in February of 1948 under the name
Brewer Broadcasting Co., Inc. It operated one of the first AM radio stations in the area. The company was owned and operated by the Brewers until 1999, when Hancock Communications, Inc. purchased the company. Hancock Communications also owns WBIO, WLME, WXCM and WKCM.

Southern Indiana R.E.C. distributed power to its first home in July 1941. The
company has been providing reliable and cost-efficient electric service to Perry, Spencer and parts of Warrick and Dubois counties ever since. During the first year of operation, the company energized nearly 350 miles of line to provide service to about 800 customers. Today, Southern Indiana R.E.C., Inc. has 1,500 miles of line and thousands of customers.

Nominated by individuals or organizations within the same community, Half Century
Business Awards honor Indiana’s well-established companies and their outstanding contributions to the economic growth and prosperity of the state. Companies eligible for the Half Century Business Award must be at least 50 years old, be involved in the same type of business and located in the same county as when they were founded, and have a record of active community service. Not-for-profit corporations and hospitals are not eligible.

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ACCENT To Open Communications Center in Tell CityTELL CITY, INDIANA

Evansville Courier & Press, Perry County News
ACCENT Marketing Services, L.L.C. announced today that it will open a new customer communications center in Tell City. Scheduled to open in late May, the customer communications center will initially employ 50 to 60 workers. Within two years, the new center is expected to employ 250 workers with an annual payroll of $4.4 million.

"The availability of workers who want to work made our decision easy," said Linda Rabenecker, President, Customer Service for ACCENT. "We make significant investments in our employees and the quality of the people we have met so far in Perry County has been excellent. And, the local government officials have been second to none."

"We’re excited that ACCENT has chosen our community for their new communications center," added Bill Goffinet, Mayor of Tell City. "Their presence will help us diversify our local economy, improve our telecommunications infrastructure and employ quite a few workers."

"The attraction of a quality company like ACCENT can only be accomplished through a total team effort," stated Pete Franzman, Perry County Council President. "Our community’s commitment to business is helping Perry County attract businesses from around the world."

"We are pleased to learn that ACCENT will put its future facility in Indiana," said Indiana Lt. Governor Joe Kernan, who leads the state’s economic development efforts. "We welcome these new jobs and the future growth of ACCENT."

To help secure the project, Indiana will provide ACCENT with $14,000 in Training 2000 funds and, up to $225,000 in community development block grant funds to be used to train low to moderate-income workers. In addition, Tell City, Perry County and the PCDC will provide the company with $55,000 in local training assistance over the next two years, and Tell City has offered the company a low-interest loan for purchase of telecommunications equipment.

Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, ACCENT is a comprehensive customer management company providing its Fortune 500 customers with direct marketing campaigns including direct mail, database management, inbound customer service, graphic design, fulfillment services, as well as in-depth marketing analysis and reporting.

ACCENT employs more than 1,200 workers in four customer communications centers located in Winterhaven and Zephryhills, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; and, New Albany, Indiana. The company also has sales offices in Denver, Colorado and St. Joseph, Michigan. The company was ranked in the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing private companies in 1998 and 1999.

Though ACCENT plans on opening a local office within the next 30 days, applications are currently being taken for General Manager and Manager of People Services, as well as key IT positions. Until the office opens, employment applications may be picked up or resumes can be dropped of at the PCDC offices located on the second floor in the First State Bank building in Tell City. For more information about ACCENT and employment opportunities, access their web site at www.accentonline.com.

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Tall Order in Tell City, Director Lures Development to Perry County Despite Tough Odds.

By Norm Heikens, Indianapolis Star
Greg Wathen isn't a brain surgeon, rocket scientist or nuclear physicist. His work is harder than that. Wathen is charged with bringing business to Tell City.

The Ohio River community lacks an interstate highway; its sharp hills aren't suitable for sprawling factories; and it has no airport to speak of. Yet, Wathen has wriggled free of those obstacles to stand as one of the state's top economic developers.

As executive director of Perry County Development Corp., he has a railroad, a river port and a foundry to his credit. And a Japanese company recently announced it plans to build a $65 million auto-parts plant.

"I've always been impressed with what he's been able to do," says Indiana University economist Morton Marcus. "Given the limitations, (the group) is superior to any in the state." Wathen, 46, dismissively points out that Tell City and Perry County were in dire straits when he was hired in 1992.

"We've done this by default, because no one wanted to do it," he says. "Change normally occurs when the pain of change is less than the status quo. There was no way but up."

Wathen came to the job with a mix of hometown familiarity and outside experience. Born in the predominantly Catholic city, at age 13 he left for Divine Heart Seminary near South Bend to train for the priesthood. Intense academics and a blend of cultures at the now-defunct prep school broadened his world as he prepared for Loyola University Chicago. But just before entering Loyola, he had his first date, and his ecclesiastical intentions were derailed.

"I decided this just isn't my calling," he remembers.

Stints in marketing and public relations landed Wathen in Louisville, Ky., at a predecessor to the economic development group Greater Louisville Inc. There, he managed public affairs.

Wathen was commuting from Tell City, where he had settled with his wife, Liz, also a native, when Perry County civic leaders approached him about running their fledgling economic development group.

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He balked. Perry County Development directors had the grit necessary to succeed. But residents were in an uproar over a proposal to move the county seat from Cannelton to Tell City, and Wathen imagined himself falling victim to political windshear.

Wathen finally signed a contract stipulating that he receive a full year's salary if he were to be fired.
Morale was in the dumps across Perry County. The unemployment rate was 9.6 percent, two points above the national average, and General Electric and other key Tell City employers were shedding workers.

Perry County Development Secretary-Treasurer J.B. Land recalls directors "were ready for something to happen." Wathen inherited the railroad project. Northfolk Southern was spinning off an unprofitable short line that ran from Lincoln City to Tell City through a barge-building shipyard on the river and on to Cannelton. Wathen negotiated the $200,000 purchase for the Perry County Port Authority. Then the port authority started Hoosier Southern Railroad, complete with 26 miles of track, four well-worn engines and a caboose.

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Wathen's first economic development score came in 1993 when Perfect Fit announced it would make pillows in Tell City. It employed 130 before revealing this year it would close in a restructuring.
Then he negotiated Tell City's purchase of Maxon Marine, the boatyard, which had closed. Tell City leases the port to the port authority, a county agency, and receives a fee for tonnage moving through the facility. After a slow start, the port is in the black and expecting to move 2,800 rail cars of iron and other goods this year.

The railroad proved crucial to Wathen hitting his first grand slam. That was Waupaca Foundry, and its potential for hundreds of good jobs. Problem was, Perry County had no level ground.
Linda Williamson, a former state Commerce Department project manager who now runs Bloomington Economic Development Corp., was taken aback by Wathen's resolve.
"They moved a mountain, for goodness' sake," Williamson says. "They weren't fazed at all."
More precisely, they moved 2 million cubic yards of dirt and rock. Enough to fill the Conseco Fieldhouse seating bowl nearly four times. Wathen and Perry County Development directors proudly mention the figure repeatedly to slam home the point they can whip any flatland community.
Waupaca built a brake part foundry and now employs 680 people, whose average earnings are more than $40,000 a year.
That pluck has made Wathen a household name in Indiana community development circles.

Solid reputation
Elaine Fisher joins economist Marcus in rating Wathen as one of the best.
Fisher runs the Indiana Economic Development Academy at Ball State University, which trains economic development directors and often enlists Wathen to speak about business attraction.
"What he excels in is creativity," Fisher says. "He works very hard to figure out the best way to do things. In the nicest way, I think he's a self-promoter."
Wathen doesn't miss many chances to pitch Perry County. He even turned a joke about his hair to his advantage. On a bet with his sons, Wathen had his barber, who happens to be a county commissioner, give him a flat-top buzz. Wathen found it so easy to maintain that he kept it. Then he realized it had become his trademark. People might forget his name but not the haircut.
His talent has been noticed as far away as New Zealand. Wathen is preparing for his second trip to the nation to teach economic development. New Zealanders wouldn't have taken notice, though, were it not for his exploits in Perry County.

Attracting new business
Wathen lured several small projects after Waupaca Foundry. American Colloid supplies foundries and Waupaca Pallet coats castings.
His second grand slam came in October. Aisin Takaoka Co. preliminarily committed to locating an auto-parts plant near Tell City. The Japanese company has negotiated $1.5 million in equipment tax abatements from the county and is talking with the state. The plant is expected to employ 81.
Attracting the Japanese, renowned for meticulous site selection, might persuade other Japanese companies to follow, Wathen hopes.
Now he's trying to find companies to fill space vacated by the venerable Tell City Chair Co. downtown.
The Fenn family is liquidating the furniture maker after a protracted labor dispute led the company to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1996. Doug Fenn, the fourth generation to run Tell City Chair, bought the name and other assets and is starting a furniture company in a tiny part of the building. The city bought the 13-acre site two weeks ago for $254,000 and is preparing for an environmental cleanup.
From the time Wathen joined Perry County Development, it decided not to settle for jobs that cost more to attract than they were worth to the county.
Telemarketing call centers and poultry processors are given little encouragement. Neither pays well, and a slaughterhouse might attract huge, smelly poultry farms, he reasons.

Job not always easy
For all Wathen's successes, not everything has come smoothly. Three brothers sued Perry County Development in 1996 to force the private, nonprofit corporation to open its books under the Indiana Open Records Act.
After failing to acquire the brothers' land for the foundry, the county proceeded to condemn the land through eminent domain. Then Perry County Development found adjoining land and located the foundry there.
Perry County Development won the lawsuit on the defense it wasn't a public agency. Had it lost, it conceivably could have been forced to turn over lists of business prospects, the nightmare of every economic developer, Wathen says.
David Kempf, one of the brothers, says they pursued the matter out of principle. Perry County Development acted as a public agency and should have been subject to the act, he says, refusing to comment further.
The brothers dropped the lawsuit in July, but not until after Perry County Development had spent $10,000 in legal fees and diverted its focus from economic development to winning the suit.
Residents of nearby Troy also are irritated about a pile of waste sand Waupaca is dumping just outside town. The black dust seeps inside windows and settles on cars. It's enough to drive Helen Kleeman to organize citizens to confront Waupaca.
"They say it's harmless," Kleeman says. "You can eat a rat, too, but who wants to do that?
"You can talk to a lot of people in Troy, and a lot of people don't think Greg Wathen is great."
Waupaca environmental coordinator Jeff Loeffler admits, "We have some things that we could improve upon," and promises to address the problem.
Wathen's successes have been bittersweet for other reasons. Sometimes it seems jobs disappear as quickly as he attracts them.
Aisin Takaoka is stepping into a building being vacated by the pillow maker, and General Electric Industrial Systems keeps whittling jobs. It now employs 130, down from 550 several years ago.
Nevertheless, Wathen's philosophy of luring companies with industrial parks, railroads and other physical infrastructure is stanching the outflow. Perry County unemployment, still among the highest in the state, has receded to 6.7 percent.
Wathen's track record at Perry County Development Corp. includes:
• $280 million in corporate investment
• 1,151 new jobs
• An increase in wages and salaries from $102 million in 1992 to $145 million in 1998, the latest year for which government figures are available.

Career at a crossroads
Now that the tide is turning in Tell City, Wathen isn't sure whether to stay. His third three-year contract expires in March. Wathen is reluctant to admit it, but he's bored.
The pay is adequate, he says. At first his compensation was $46,000 a year, and now he reluctantly concedes it's between $65,000 and $75,000.
He gets a job offer every couple of months. Last year he turned down a $150,000 economic development post in an undisclosed major city, partly because his youngest child is still in Tell City schools, but also because he likes the small-town lifestyle.
If he left and assumed the strains of a high-pressure job, he and his wife would need to give up the hotel development company they just started.
"I really don't know," Wathen muses.

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Japanese parts maker eyeing Perfect Fit
TELL CITY - A Japanese-based automotive parts manufacturer has reached a preliminary agreement to purchase the soon-to-be vacant Perfect Fit Industries' production facility in Perry County, bringing with it the likelihood of 40 new jobs and potential additional investment by other companies in the future.
Aisin Takaoka Co. Ltd. of Toyota City, Japan, announced Tuesday its intent to purchase the 94,000 square foot plant in the Perry County Industrial Park South on Indiana 37 through its subsidiary, ATTC Manufacturing Inc. The company plans to convert the structure into a parts manufacturing facility, with a total investment of up to $65 million in the next decade.

Waupaca Foundry, already a supplier to other Aisin companies, is expected to serve as a supplier of castings for automotive components.

Attorney Dale Stackhouse of the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller, which is representing the company in plans for the project, said the plant would produce a number of products, including brake components for vehicles. "I think we're looking at a number of products being manufactured there," he said.

Stackhouse did not release financial terms of the plant's purchase. The plant is expected to employ up to 40 persons with additional jobs possible with future growth.

The Japanese firm's purchase of the plant hinges on Aisin Takaoka's ability to secure state and local incentives, likely to include abatements of taxes on real estate and personal property such as equipment. Stackhouse said Bart Sprunger of Ice Miller plans to attend Thursday's (today) meeting of the Perry County Council to discuss the company's plans.

Perfect Fit obtained a 10-year abatement for its new structure. Five years currently remains on that agreement. Under the current abatement scale, 50 percent of Perfect Fit's taxes are abated this year, with the figure dropping by 10 percent annually. Once the abatement has expired, property taxes are collected at the normal assessed rate.
Stackhouse suggested the company will seek to retain the remaining five years on the abatement agreement.

Aisin Takaoka is also working with officials in Indianapolis to gauge access to training funds and other state incentives offered to new or expanding companies.

Local officials have worked to secure a buyer for the building since Perfect Fit announced plans this summer to close the facility, laying off approximately 83 employees. The plant is now scheduled to close its doors on Nov. 10.

Aisin Takaoka executives, who have repeatedly expressed an interest in Perry County in recent years, discussed plans for a new plant with county leaders. Those meetings continued and led to Tuesday's announcement.

County officials were unabashed in their support for Aisin Takaoka's plans, citing new jobs the company will bring and the importance of locating a company in the automotive industry within Perry County.

"We're ecstatic about bringing a world class company to Perry County," said Perry County Development Corporation Executive Director Greg Wathen. As the county's first direct Japanese investment into Perry County, Aisin Takaoka is an example of the importance value-added manufacturing has gained in recent years.

The proposed $65 million investment is significant in itself, said Wathen. For comparison, Perfect Fit marked an investment of approximately $5 million.

Wathen said PCDC will stand behind the company's request for county incentives. Wathen and Tell City Mayor Bill Goffinet have made repeated visits to Japan, the latest just weeks ago, to meet with Japanese business leaders. Wathen said such contacts reinforced Perry County's commitment to work with companies.

With Aisin Takaoka's connections in the automotive industry, Goffinet said the chances of securing additional investments of capital and jobs will be more likely. "Obviously, we're taking a long-term approach here, but it's an important first step for us," he said. Wathen agreed, saying clustering of companies involved in related fields is becoming more common.

If Aisin Takaoka's plans move forward, production is expected to begin in 2001. The current plant was designed with the likelihood the building would be doubled in size at some point. Utility lines and other foundation work to expand the building are already in place. Stackhouse said the company's current plans are to use the existing facility.

Waupaca personnel director Ed Zellers said Aisin companies and Waupaca have a "strong relationship" with one another. The proximity of the local foundry should provide significant cost savings, in particular from the shipping of heavy castings. "It's provides a competitive advantage to both companies and the chance to cement a long-standing relationship," said Zellers

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PERRY COUNTY LEADS SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA IN PERCENTAGE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH
Tell City, IN May 21, 1999 - Perry County's hard work to change its fortunes is beginning to pay off. The latest U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) statistics released on May 6, 1999, show Perry County leading Southwestern Indiana in percentage of growth in key economic indicators of per capita personal income (PCPI), total personal income, average wage per job, wage and salary disbursement, and earnings by industry.
From 1996 to 1997, the most current year for BEA data, Perry County outgrew both the State and national averages. Perry County had PCPI growth of 5.5 percent, total personal income growth of 6.3 percent, increases in average wage per job and wage and salary disbursement of 10.1 percent, and growth in earnings by industry of 8.8 percent.
For the same time period, Perry County's numbers also reflect a higher percentage of growth in each of these categories than Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh and Warrick Counties.
"The numbers look good and reflect a great deal of hard work by community leaders," said Greg Wathen, executive director of the Perry County Development Corporation (PCDC). "But, as economists like Morton Marcus like to remind us, we still have a long way to go."
Although Perry County outgrew the State and national averages as well as its neighboring counties in every income category, its PCPI for example was still only 78 percent of the State average and 72 percent of the national average.
Even considering the PCPI and being cautious with the other BEA numbers, Wathen is still very happy and optimistic. "To get a true picture of our economy and Southwestern Indiana, you would need to look at where we started. In 1993, our PCPI was $14,689. In 1997, the PCPI stands at $18,089, and those numbers reflect both the closing of the Tell City Chair Company and only the initial impact of Waupaca Foundry coming to Perry County."

Other strong economic indicators for Perry County from 1996 to 1997 include total personal income growth up to $349 million from $329 million; average wages increasing from $19,588 to $21,074; and, earnings by industry growing 8.8 percent from $158 million to $172 million.
Added Wathen, "If we keep growing at this pace, we will eventually catch up with the State and the rest of the country. And I can hardly wait until next year's numbers come out."

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