Promoting progress

Jay County Development Corporation members are proud of their long history and look forward to progress in years to come.
JCDC members spent their annual meeting Monday at Jay County Hospital reviewing the accomplishments of the last year and taking a look at projects that are already underway or are on the calendar for 2016.
Barb Street, who is serving her first year as president of the organization, credited forward thinking and working toward a common goal as keys to success.
“JCDC is one of the oldest and most well-established of all economic development groups in the state of Indiana,” she said, “which I believe is in part a tribute to the vision and foresight of some great leaders who created a county-wide model that set the stage for the county-wide cooperation … that Jay County enjoys today.”
JCDC executive director Bill Bradley and community developer Ami Huffman reviewed a variety of recent projects, with Bradley touting the about $31 million in investment made at FCC over the last two years. That investment included a 76,000-square foot expansion that brought 57 new jobs to the community.
“That’s amazing,” said Bradley. “That’s a testimony to the work of a lot of people in this room who work together to see that succeed.”
Bradley also noted his pride in investments in new equipment at ATI Portland Forge and Fort Recovery Industries and a new showroom at Pennville Custom Cabinetry.
Huffman pointed to the Portland west side sewer project, Dunkirk blight elimination, Portland Water Park and Dunkirk’s finalist status in the Stellar Communities process as high points of 2015. She noted that Dunkirk is the first municipality in the state to complete its work through Indiana’s Hardest Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program.
As they looked toward the future, Bradley told JCDC members that he is working with the City of Portland on plans to demolish the long-vacant Sheller Globe south building on Bridge Street and that a housing study in on the horizon. He discussed the recent news that Bluff Point Wind Energy Center in southern Jay and northern Randolph counties is now slated to become a reality in 2017 after more than a decade of work.
He also noted the success of Jay County Promise, a program that provides incentives for families to start college savings accounts.
“That has been a very positive effort and will continue to reap benefits I’m sure over the next 10, 15 years,” he said. “We’ll see the real success of this in about a decade.”
Among projects already underway or in the bidding process for 2016, Huffman noted the senior citizen center at Jay Community Center, the new Redkey fire station and the Redkey sewer separation project. She is working on a variety of other grant applications, including for sidewalk projects in Portland, Dunkirk and Redkey.
In looking at broader goals for the future, Bradley noted the need to be ready for future development. He told his board members that two of the things companies look for are a strong workforce and available space — in the form of buildings rather than land.
To that end, he said it’s important to continue efforts in workforce development, such as becoming an ACT Certified Work Ready Community through the WorkKeys testing program and to consider construction of a new spec building.
In addition to the updates on local projects, JCDC members heard a presentation from John Ketzenberger, president of Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute.
Among other political and financial topics, he discussed the importance of local roads, saying that farmers must be able to effectively get their products out of the fields along county roads for the state to thrive. He noted that the Funding Indiana’s Roads for a Stronger, Safer Tomorrow task force created by the legislature this year is discussing potential road funding solutions this summer and the topic will likely be high on the priority list for 2017.
Also Monday, JCDC elected its slate of officers and directors. Officers for 2017 will be Barb Street (president), Duane Sautbine (vice president), Lee Bone (secretary) and Rex Journay (treasurer). Approved for new terms as directors were Chuck Huffman, Kim Hathaway, Doug Inman, John Glassford, Joe Johnston, Faron Parr, Bone and Journay.