Mayor: Targeted moves lead to growth in Crawfordsville
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe mayor of Crawfordsville says recent major manufacturing investments are a testament to the city’s efforts to take control of its own economic development destiny.
North Carolina-based Nucor Corp. said this month it will invest $115 million to build a utility structures manufacturing facility and create up to 200 jobs in the city; that’s in addition to the $290 million expansion of Nucor’s sheet steel mill, construction for which began in April.
“What it really reflects is not just the business climate in our community, but the workforce in our community,” Mayor Todd Barton said. “People have really dedicated themselves to the success of that company. And now we’re seeing that pay off.”
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business Reporter Mary-Rachel Redman, Barton said the city has made a concerted effort to bring its economic development efforts in-house.
“Companies are dealing directly with us,” he said. “And it also means that there’s direct accountability; if we’re successful, so be it, and if we’re not, we know where the buck stops. That approach has really worked well for us.”
Barton said the momentum began in 2015 when the Montgomery County city earned the state’s Stellar Communities designation, which led to many quality of life projects, including a downtown park, a concert venue, new trails, as well as the Fusion 54 coworking space that opened in 2018.
And that momentum is continuing with two new parks in development, including the Shortz Nature Park, named after Crawfordsville native and crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times, Will Shortz, who donated the 47-acre parcel of land.
But manufacturing continues to be a major industry for Crawfordsville. Kentucky-based Tempur Sealy International Inc. is preparing to begin a phased opening of its $138 million, 700,000-square-foot foam pouring manufacturing facility that is ultimately expected to create up to 300 jobs.
The mayor said the city’s economic development preparations were key to landing the project.
“I think they came here to do a site visit just to be nice. I mean, we were not at the top of their list by any means,” he said. “But when they made their site visit, things changed and changed rapidly and we moved to the top of their list. So, we know how to sell Crawfordsville. We know if we can get them here and we can expose them to the culture and the environment and what we’re doing in the community, we can build that excitement.”
With the new business coming to Crawfordsville, there will be growth in the community, Barton said. He noted Arbor Homes’ $14 million housing project on the city’s north side that aims to support workforce attraction.
The city also expects to make some retail announcements in the near future.
“The landscape in Crawfordsville will really start to change, I think, in probably about a year.”