Category News

When local business and industry leaders shared the struggles they were having in filling current job openings, a task force of representatives from the Rush County ECDC, the Rush County Chamber of Commerce, and WorkOne embraced the challenge to identify workers capable of filling the void.

The First Annual Rush County Economic Development Job Fair was established as the means to help meet the worthy goal. Last week, 24 regional employers came together to meet and interview prospective employees from Rush and surrounding counties.

Several employers stated they were able to find quality applicants that day.

“To have the opportunity to share your business with the community is a positive for everyone regardless of open positions. Finding great qualified applicants is just a huge plus. This event was very successful and I look forward to speaking with some applicants we received throughout the day,” Dennis Fogle, vice president of Human Resources for Rush Memorial Hospital, said.

Max McMichael, co-owner of FarmBoys Smokehouse BBQ, said, “We came away with a stack of completed applications, and are beginning to call some candidates in for interviews. We were very pleased with the turnout and the whole process of the job fair.”

“I talked to several of the manufacturing firms participating in the job fair, and some had already found the workers they needed,” Sandy Fussner, Executive Director of the Rush County Chamber of Commerce, said. “It was a great opportunity to connect job seekers with local and surrounding businesses. We’ll definitely do it again next year.”

Some employers provided prizes that were given away, and ten of the job seekers who attended will be getting phone calls to inform them of prizes they won during the day. Those winners will be notified to pick up their prize at their local WorkOne office.

“I believe the organizers hit it out of the park when they decided to host the event on a Saturday,” ECDC Client Services Manager Carolyn Bunzendahl said. “This provided currently employed individuals who seek better jobs the opportunity to visit with regional employers without having to miss their regular work.”

Posted: Friday, August 21, 2015 7:00 am

By Kate Thurston Rushville Republican

The Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation announced that JM CNC, LLC, a computer numerical control (CNC) manufacturer, plans to expand its operations to Rush County, creating up to 62 new jobs by 2018.
The homegrown Hoosier company will invest $4.5 million to add 40,000-square-feet to its Rushville location. The renovation will provide additional space for 20 new CNC machines, employees, and production output. Formerly known as JM Manufacturing, the company changed its name to JM CNC on August 1 to reflect its new owner, Columbia City-based Impact CNC.
JM CNC, which currently has 38 full-time employees in Rushville, plans to begin hiring CNC operators, set-up, assembly, quality assurance and shipping & receiving positions immediately. Interested applicants may apply in person at JM CNC located at 167 East 200 North in Rushville.
“Indiana is such a business-friendly state that has so many resources to support business growth,” said Jerry Busche, CEO of Impact CNC. “Other businesses talk about the Midwestern worth ethic, but I believe that the Hoosier work ethic and family values far surpass those in any of our neighboring states, making Indiana a great place to live and work.”
JM CNC will act as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Impact CNC, its new parent company. Impact CNC currently supplies CNC work to the automotive, heavy truck, off-highway and oil industries. Impact CNC earned the distinction as a 2014 Company to Watch as well as receiving the Outstanding Supplier Support Award from Toyota the same year.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered JM CNC, LLC up to $400,000 in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.

“Rush County continues to be a pro-business community where industry leaders have confidence in the progressive economic environment, pragmatic workforce development programs, and local elected officials who encourage and welcome economic investment and growth,” said John McCane, Executive Director of the Rush County ECDC. “Rush County is excited to welcome JM CNC, LLC to our community. At the same time, we honor JB Vogel for his years of commitment to building a stronger Rush County.”
The Rush County Council will consider additional incentives at the request of the Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation. “This is fantastic day for Rush County,” said County Councilperson Janet Kile. “Rush County maintains its efforts to create the best business environment for companies looking for a place to grow.”

The manufacturing sector accounts for approximately 25 percent of Indiana’s economy, contributing $64 billion each year and employing about 450,000 workers, according to Conexus Indiana. Indiana continues to have the nation’s highest concentration of private sector manufacturing jobs.

About JM CNC, LLC
Founded in 1977 by Roy Vogel, JM Manufacturing has experienced a series of rapid expansions under its current owner, JB Vogel, who purchased the company from his father in 1991. JM Manufacturing is a precision parts manufacturer that uses CNC equipment to produce intricate parts that are shipped to clients worldwide. JM Manufacturing will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Impact CNC, LLC and will be renamed JM CNC, LLC.

PLAINFIELD, IND. –
Duke Energy customers in Indiana are getting a break on their summer electric bills, and they can expect additional savings through the end of the year due to lower fuel costs.

Rates for the average residential customer have declined about 8 percent compared to last July, in large part due to lower coal costs. That amounts to about $10 in savings on a monthly bill for a customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours.

Costs in 2015 are also lower because extreme winter weather in 2014 drove up fuel and purchased power costs.

Rates for more energy-intensive customers, businesses that use large amounts of power, have declined about 9 to 10 percent compared to last summer.

Costs will reduce further over the next few months as lower-cost fuel replaces higher-cost supplies. Those additional savings, if approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission in a filing made today, would amount to $2 monthly for an average residential customer during October, November and December. Some of the savings are also due to a true-up of previous cost projections.

“A large part of the decreases is due to a settlement with one of our large coal suppliers, which means reduced fuel costs to produce electricity—savings that we pass along to customers,” said Duke Energy Indiana President Melody Birmingham-Byrd. “These are significant rate decreases that will help our customers, especially industries and large businesses, reduce and control their costs, particularly during the summer when customers use more power and bills are higher.”

Indiana state utility regulators review utility fuel costs four times a year, and costs fluctuate, but a significant part of these decreases are due to lower pricing for a long-term coal contract. Fuel costs are one of the largest components of a customer’s bill.

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission first approved a portion of the decreases in late March as part of the company’s quarterly fuel clause filing. Lower costs began appearing in customer bills in April.

Duke Energy Indiana

Duke Energy Indiana’s operations provide about 7,500 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 810,000 customers in a 23,000-square-mile service area, making it the state’s largest electric supplier.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com.

In a concerted effort to promote private investment in broadband infrastructure, The City of Rushville and the Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation completed all steps required to apply for the Broadband Ready Community certification. Application was made to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and its Broadband Ready Communities Development Center.

The City of Rushville has been notified that it is the first of Indiana’s 119 cities to be certified as a Broadband Ready Community (BRC). “Having this certification sends a signal to the telecommunication industry that our community has taken steps to reduce barriers to broadband infrastructure investment”, said John McCane, ECDC Executive Director. “We have been meeting with our partners at NineStar Connect to move this process forward; they of course are extremely supportive, and have been a partner with Rushville and Rush County for several years.

Kroger Central Division leaders celebrated the grand opening of a new fuel center adjacent to the company’s Rushville store at 202 South Main Street in Rushville Friday morning.
The total economic investment in this fuel center is $1.2 million. Kroger’s project was led by Project Manager Reggie Henderson. This investment strengthens Kroger’s economic and workforce commitment to the local Rushville community and will create additional jobs.
At a time when many companies, particularly retail companies, have slowed or stopped their investments in facilities and job creation in Indiana, Kroger Central Division has accelerated their pace of investment.
According to President of Kroger Central Division Jeff Burt, “The grocery, pharmacy and fuel markets are very competitive in Indiana, but also very important for The Kroger Co. Our solid success in the marketplace allows us to make significant economic and work force investments in our Indiana stores. Our investment in Rushville is a strong vote of confidence and allows us to continue providing quality products, competitive prices and outstanding customer service, while being a supportive community partner. The Rushville fuel center will allow us to provide the nation’s best retail fuel rewards program to customers in that neighborhood.”
As part of the grand opening event, Kroger is donating $250 in fuel gift cards to the Rushville Volunteer Fire Department and $250 in fuel gift cards to the ARC of Rush County.

Does your organization have a website? What’s its purpose? Brand identification, public relations, and lead generation?
If you want to improve your SEO (search engine optimization), which means increasing visibility, therefore, bringing more visitors to your site, great, fresh content is the key. Effective blogging can and will improve SEO, which leads to a higher ranking, more hits, more leads, and more sales.
Join a group on Wednesday July 22nd, from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Rush County Economic & Community Development Corporation Office, 210 E US52 Rushville, IN., upstairs conference room for “Blogging 101” with Randy Clark of TKO Graphics.
“We at the ECDC have been talking about doing a blog for a while, but have just not sat down to define what that would look like and the main topics we would write about,” Carolyn Bunzendahl of ECDC stated. “We do know that having a regular blog would help our website rise to the top of Google search rankings. We’re looking forward to learning about the process and hearing the suggestions of Randy Clark. We are so fortunate to have the East Central Small Business Development Center as a partner; they are the ones who continue to bring these great resources to our community.”
Blogging 101 covers:
•Why blog, how often, and what about
•Blog planning and promotion
•Creating ideas, using an editorial calendar, and copy editing
This presentation involves action plans that you’ll work on during the presentation and take away to improve the consistency, subject matter, and quality of your business blog.
Randy Clark is the Director of Communications at TKO Graphix, where he blogs for TKO Graphix Brandwire Randy is passionate about social media, leadership development, and flower gardening. He is a beer geek and on weekends he can be found fronting the Rock & Roll band Under The Radar. He is the proud father of two educators has four amazing grandchildren, and a public speaking wife.

Duke Energy Indiana has selected 100,000 square feet of available space at the Industrial Jordan Manufacturing Building in Rush County for the utility’s 2015 Site Readiness Program. The building is located at 1250 Commerce Drive in Rushville.
The Site Readiness Program is a key component of Duke Energy’s economic development model. It identifies, evaluates, and improves sites in the company’s service territory for potential industrial development.
“We see distinct potential for this available building space to attract businesses that can bring economic growth to this area,” said Cathy Wenning, Duke Energy Indiana community relations manager for Rush County. “Helping promote economic development is an important part of our commitment to serving our customers.”
As part of Duke Energy’s evaluation of the Rushville location, site-selection consultant InSite Consulting will conduct a comprehensive assessment. Based on consultant recommendations, Duke Energy will collaborate with county leaders and local economic development professionals to develop a strategy for increasing the industrial building’s marketability and help prepare the space for future businesses.
Schmidt Associates, an architectural firm in Indianapolis, will produce conceptual drawings and site plans.
“The Duke Energy Site Readiness Program reinforces our work to attract jobs and industries to this area,” said John McCane, executive director of the Rush County Economic and Community Development Corporation. “We appreciate Duke Energy’s partnership and collaboration, and we look forward to seeing the consultant’s final recommendations.”
The recommendations from the site consultant will be presented to local officials in early summer. Duke Energy will also present a check for $10,000 to help the community implement the recommendations.
Other sites selected for the Duke Energy Indiana 2015 Site Readiness Program include properties in Clark, Howard and Vermillion counties.
Ideal properties for Duke Energy’s Site Readiness Program are 60 acres or larger, served by the utility, or a vacant industrial building at least 20,000 square feet identified to support renewed industrial growth and sustainable development in a community.
Duke Energy Indiana’s overall economic development program has also been consistently named by Site Selection magazine as one of the nation’s “Top 10 Utility Economic Development Programs.” Since 2008, the company has participated in the creation of nearly 20,000 jobs and total capital investment of approximately $4.5 billion.
For more information about Duke Energy Indiana’s economic development programs, visit www.locationindiana.com.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy Indiana’s operations provide about 7,500 megawatts of owned electric capacity to approximately 810,000 customers in a 23,000-square-mile service area, making it the state’s largest electric supplier.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com.