Business
Starke County NewsHawk

KNOX – Knox Industrial Park manufacturer J.W. Hicks has modified the expansion it announced last fall.

   Brian Hicks, his father Jim Hicks, and a project engineer appeared before the Knox City Council last week to explain the changes.

   In all, the completed project will include a $2.5 million, 110,000 sq. ft. addition, and eventually,  20 new employees. The additional employees will mean approximately $650,000 in added payroll at the plant. Also, J.W. Hicks will be purchasing additional land within the industrial park, according to Starke County Economic Development executive director Charles Weaver.

J.W. Hicks will have a significant fvootprint in the Knox Industrial Park, with the orignial addition north of the present plant, and the 110,000 sq. foot addition just south of the new Reagent Chemical plant on Pacific Avenue.

   J.W. Hicks representatives will appear before the city council at its next meeting to request an additional abatement beyond the one it received last fall.

   J.W. Hicks, which is a quality refractory supplier of equipment for handling, treating and controlling the flow of molten metals , is headquartered  in Merrillville, where it maintains a manufacturing and warehousing operation.

   The additional facilities and operations in Knox will increase J.W. Hicks’ capacity in providing services, recycling and manufacturing.

KNOX – The Starke County Economic Development Foundation has purchased the former Rockwell Windows property at tax sale.

The Federal Group, which presently is located in the building and continues to produce windows and other construction oriented materials, with a work force of about 20 employees, working four days a week, is expected to remain in the building for the time being.

Federal Group’s sales have been greatly reduced with the downturn of the economy, and in direct proportion to that, the home construction and remodeling business.

The S.C.P. property sold Tuesday in the tax sale conducted at the Starke County Annex by the County Commissioners.

S.C.P., doing business as the Federal Group on Culver Road in Knox, had been placed on the sale for back taxes of $93,000.

The company’s four parcels of land and buildings were put on the auction, with opening bids of $300.00. The foundation, with Ben Osinski of the foundation’s board placing the bids The 40 acre parcel of land went for $500 and the other three parcels went for $300 each.

The Starke County Economic Development Foundation wanted to be assured that the property and buildings remained an industrial concern. If the four parcels are ever deeded to the Foundation, a decision will be made on how to market them.

According to terms of the auction, S.C.P. now has 120 days to redeem the property by paying the back taxes and added penalties.. If indeed the property is redeemed, the foundation will be able to get their money back from the Starke County Auditor.

In all, 131 properties were on the sale.

KNOX– The Starke County Economic Development Foundation has announced it is teaming with the Northwest Indiana Small Business Development Center to further strengthen the small business community in Starke and Pulaski counties.

“The partnership brings an elevated component of services to the Foundation’s Small Business Center, which has been assisting small business owners since launching in May of 2008,” said SCEDF Executive Director Charles Weaver.

“The efforts of the SBDC coupled with the Small Business Center will just enhance our ability to meet the needs of entrepreneurs and small business persons in Starke and Pulaski counties.

“Our mission is to work with the local guys who want to get started in business along with the area’s big businesses.”

NWI SBDC Regional Director LeAnn McCrum said the partnership is an opportunity for both agencies to be stronger assets to residents.

“It is our intention to do a better job serving Starke and Pulaski counties this year. In the past,   limited resources have prevented the NWI SBDC from having a strong presence in either county,” McCrum said. “Together, we will be able to provide more resources to the communities than either one could individually.”

The Foundation’s Ron Gifford will be working directly with clients as a business advisor for the SBDC. Gifford practiced law for 32 years, having worked primarily with businesses.

Gifford sees the collaboration as a way to further serve small business owners by having at hand key SBDC resources while advising clients.

“It is a nice fit because it gives us additional tools to make us even more effective,” Gifford said.

He will be based out of the Foundation’s offices in Knox, 4 North Main St.

Serving seven counties in the region, the NWI SBDC offers free assistance for entrepreneurs starting or expanding their businesses. Through one-on-one consulting, the NWI SBDC helps guide small businesses toward their goals by offering referrals, workshops, training opportunities and other essential business tools. It is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Small Business Administration, the State of Indiana and other local partners.

For more information, visit www.nwisbdc.org.

SCEDF is a not-for-profit Local Economic Development Organization providing economic development opportunities on behalf of Starke County, the City of Knox, and the Towns of North Judson, and Hamlet through the development of industrial parks, rail spurs, Greenfield sites, shovel-ready sites, infrastructure and workforce development.

For more information, visit www.scedf.biz.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Starke County Economic Development Foundation (SCEDF) supported mint farmers in Starke County and surrounding counties by testifying on behalf of HB 1451 in front of the Indiana House Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. This bill would define mint farming as being an agricultural activity and would thus free mint farmers from potentially having to acquire air or discharge permits from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) and being regulated by such agency.

Speaking for the Foundation, Executive Director Charles W. Weaver pointed out to the Committee that mint farming has taken place in Starke County since at least since 1902 and that Indiana, while once the American leader in mint production, is still either the 4th or 5th largest producer today in the United States, with a total value of such crop in the vicinity of $20 million annually. Weaver also reported that for the most part, there are very few mint farmers left and those that are still engaged in this activity are for the most part family farmers who are now 3rd or 4th generation farmers, and not large corporations. He suggested strongly that the State should continue to support these farmers and taking away the requirement of having to acquire burdensome permits and regulation could well result with such family farmers being able to continue for more generations into the future. Weaver testified that “the fear of IDEM and/or EPA entrance into this industry led many of this small group of farmers to seriously question whether they should plant a mint crop or not this past year and in the future. Growing the crop is not the issue, but until some solution presents itself on the permit issue, none of these mint farmers knows if they will be able to extract the oil from the crop, and it is the oil that is the most valuable commodity in the crop.”

Following the receipt of testimony by SCEDF, mint farmers, and IDEM, the House Committee deleted all of the provisions of the bill and instead inserted language that would not allow IDEM to impose any permit requirements for mint distillation operations until a study has been completed by the Environmental Quality Service Council looking at the actual and potential air emissions created by the distillation of mint and whether this process should be considered as a farming operation under current Indiana rules and regulations. The Council would also be asked to report to IDEM on the feasibility of establishing permit requirements for mint distillation operations. The Bill is now eligible to be considered on second reading in the full House.

SCEDF is a not-for-profit Local Economic Development Organization (LEDO) providing economic development opportunities on behalf of Starke County, Indiana, the City of Knox, and the Towns of North Judson, and Hamlet through the development of industrial parks, rail spurs, greenfield sites, shovelready sites, infrastructure, and workforce development. For more information regarding SCEDF, visit www.scedf.biz .