“We started our economic development efforts in 1995 when the county council passed an economic development income tax. In 2000 we got an Eli Lilly Foundation grant for $500,000 to build a spec building,” Ed Cole, head of ED for Vermillion County, IN told me.
They completed the building in the fall of 2001, which couldn’t have been a worse time to finish one during the 9/11 terrorist attack aftermath. However, this year Unifix USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Gypsum Company came to town, investing $9.2 million to make cement board. Charlie Colman, local plant manager told me, “We saved 6 months by moving into the spec building. We bought it and added 41,000 sf to grow it to 91,000 sf. We built our first board on May 25th and have been adding people ever since.”
This county has $2.5 million in endowments in their community foundation. In the eight years of their existence, they’ve already given away in excess of $3 million in grants.
Vermillion County (population 16,500) is a rather unique county. It is 42 miles long and varies from three to 8 miles across. It is sandwiched between the Wabash River on the east and the IL state border on the west. It is on the BRAC list with plans to close its Newport Army Depot. I hope to get back to study their plans for redevelopment.
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