KANKAKEE-IROQUOIS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION BENTON PULASKI CARROLL STARKE JASPER WARREN NEWTON WHITE COUNTIES, INDIANA COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Map: Proximity to Major Cities iv Administrative Organization 1 A. Composition of KIRPC 2 B. General Description C. Inter-County Organization D. Regional Organization Map: Region Map 4 KIRPC Board of Representatives 5 The Region and Its Economy 11 A. General Description 12 Map: Hydrography 14 Chart: Number and Average Size of Farms 17 Table: Agricultural Market Values (2007) B. Regional Infrastructure 18 Map: Rail and Air Transportation 21 Table: KIRPC Region Industrial Parks 26 Table: Higher Learning Institutions 30 Map: School Districts 31 Table: State-Owned Recreation Areas 34 Table: (Housing) Vacancy Rates 35 Table: (Housing) Average Listing Price Chart: Housing Types in Region 36 Chart: Housing Stock - Year Built C. Population 37 Chart: Population Trend Table: Populations of Counties and Municipalities 38 Chart: Urban/Rural (Population) 40 Chart: Educational Attainment D. Labor Force 41 Table: Labor Force Summary 42 Chart: County Unemployment Rates 44 Chart: Unemployment Rate Comparison Maps: Commuting Patterns 45 Table: Commuting Statistics Tables: County Location Quotients 49 Table: Major Employment Sectors (2007) 50 E. Potentials for Economic Development 53 Table: Regional Location Quotients (2009) 55 Table: Economic Cluster Growth (2002-2009) 56 Regional Development Expectations 61 A. Defining Regional Expectations 62 B. Strategic Projects, Programs and Activities 64 Tables: County-level Projects, et cetera 69 C. Implementing the CEDS 82 ES I T I C OR J A M TO TY I M I ROX P KANKAKEE-IROQUOIS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION IV ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION A. Composition of KIRPC to the Region’s largest municipality, Rensselaer (Jas- per Co.), home to 6,271, 38 incorporated cities and The Kankakee-Iroquois Regional Planning Com- towns, as well as nine census-designated places, in- mission (KIRPC), established on July 2, 1973, un- cluding Bass Lake (Starke Co.), Collegeville (Jasper der provisions of Public Law 183 of the Acts of 1973 Co., home to Saint Joseph’s College), and Roselawn (36-7-7-1, et seq., in the Indiana Code), is a multi- (Newton and Jasper Co’s) dot the Region. As defined county governmental service that assists county and by the 2000 Census, six communities — Delphi, De- municipal governments in the eight-county Region Motte, Knox, Monticello, Rensselaer, and Roselawn in economic and community development and plan- —, all with populations larger than 2,500, qualify as ning. Headquartered in Monon, in northern White urban clusters; a seventh, Winamac, hovers just be- County, KIRPC belongs to the Indiana Association low the cut-off mark. (See Region Map, page four, of Regional Councils (IARC), which provides a fo- and Populations of Counties and Municipalities table, rum for regional planning-agency members to net- page 38.) work and to share ideas. As regionalism comes to be more strongly appreciated, with organizations such as IARC and the Indiana Office of Community and C. Inter-County Organizations Rural Affairs (OCRA) emphasizing it, KIRPC looks to broaden the means by which it facilitates com- A number of inter-county organizations, tending to var- munity and regional development and planning by ious concerns, overlap and coincide with KIRPC. The expanding beyond grant writing and project man- newly forming Midwest Indiana Economic Develop- agement to regional collaboration, cooperation, and ment commission includes multiple KIRPC counties, coordination. Originally composed of Jasper, New- including Pulaski, White, and Benton; Starke and Jas- ton, Pulaski, and Starke Counties, it has expanded per Counties have affiliations with other, northern In- to include White (1985), Benton (2000), and, most diana-based regional economic-development groups. recently, Warren and Carroll (2009) Counties. All KIRPC counties, save Starke and Warren, which constitute their own districts, belong to the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District, responsible for waste- B. General Description management and recycling programs. A primarily rural area, some 88 percent of the land of which is dedicated to agriculture, the KIRPC Region D. Regional Organization was, as of 2008, home to a population of 144,827, .25 percent smaller than the populace as of the 2000 The Region is served by a board of representatives of Census. This decrease followed population increases each member county. Representation on the board, per by rates of 5.7 percent, .98 percent, and 9.7 percent in Indiana Code 36-7-74, is structured as follows on the the 1970s, ’80s, and ‘90s, respectively. Ranging from next page. the diminutive Yeoman (Carroll Co.), at 90 persons, KANKAKEE-IROQUOIS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION 2 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 1. A representative of the county executive, gion” and (b) “be residents of the municipality, county who may be either a member of the executive or region that they represent.” or a person appointed by it. All elected officials, save the mayors of Delphi, Knox, 2. A representative of the county fiscal body Monticello, and Rensselaer, are part-time government (county council), who must be a member officials; they represent a diverse range of interests, thereof. including finance and business, agriculture, public utilities, and professional interests. Many are involved 3. In counties with a population less than in several; a comprehensive list of commission mem- 50,000: bers follows on the proceeding pages. a. One person appointed by the ex- For the purpose of preparing this document, a sixteen- ecutive of each of the five largest person executive committee composed of the econom- municipalities, or of each municipal- ic-development officer of each county (save Jasper), ity if the county contains fewer than various county and municipal officers, and business five. people was initially formed. Prior to convening the committee, county economic-development officers b. If a county has fewer than five conferred with county-level subcommittees compris- municipalities, enough additional ing elected officials and community business leaders. persons to bring the total under this After completion of the first draft of the document, and subsection to five are to be appointed before the public-review period, county economic-de- by the county executive. velopment officers met with private-sector individuals and county government agents, acting as county-level 4. A member of the commission appointed by subdivisions of the CEDS committee, to solicit further the governor of Indiana. and final thoughts on the profile of the Region and the contents of the “Regional Development Expectations” The statute further requires that a minimum of two- section of this document. Furthermore, the executive thirds of commission members be elected officials. committee was expanded to include more business Appointees must (a) “be knowledgeable in matters of representatives — one from each county — prior to physical, social, or economic development of the re- the public-comment period. KANKAKEE-IROQUOIS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION 3 ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION REGION MAP 0 2.5 5 10 miles KANKAKEE-IROQUOIS REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION 4 Sheet1 ELECTED LOCAL NAME & ADDRESS PHONE YES AFFILIATION APPOINTED BY POSITION Benton County (6)** BRYAN BERRY 219-474-3474 Benton County 4436 N. 1100 W. X Commissioner Commissioners Exec. Comm. Fowler, IN 47944 [email protected] BERNARD GICK 765-884-0629 (H) Benton County 1281 West S.R. 18 P O Box 96 X Member Council 1st Vice Chair Fowler IN 47944 219-376-1981 (C) K BRIAN KNILL 765-869-4275 Boswell AN K P.O. Box 363 X Member Town Council A K Boswell IN 47921 [email protected] EE -I RAYMOND BRIDGES 219-227-5063 Earl Park ROQUO P.O. Box 217 X Member Town Council Earl Park, IN 47942 [email protected] I S FRED BYERS 765-884-0515 (H) Fowler R EG 106 E. Anstett Dr. X Representative Town Council I ONAL 5 Fowler IN 47944 765-491-5103 (C) RONALD SHOUP 765-337-5876 Otterbein P 509 S. Main St. Representative Town Council LANN Otterbein IN 47970 [email protected] I NG Carroll County (6)** C ANDY KELLY 574-686-2737 Camden OMM P.O. Box 195 X Member Town Council I Camden, IN 46917 SS I ON PATRICK CLAWSON 765-564-4915 Carroll County 6726 W. Milkhouse Rd. 765-202-0334 (W) X Commissioner Commissioners Exec. Comm. Delphi, IN 46923 [email protected] JOSEPH ARMSTRONG 765-566-3986 (H) Burlington PO Box 72 765-566-3362 (W) Representative Town Council A D M Burlington, IN 46915 [email protected] I N I RON SLAVENS 574-943-3523 (H) Carroll County STRAT 12018 N. 600 W. 765-532-3395 (W) Representative Council Exec. Comm. I Idaville, IN 47950 [email protected] VE O RGAN I Page 1 ZAT I ON Sheet1 ELECTED LOCAL NAME & ADDRESS PHONE YES AFFILIATION APPOINTED BY POSITION Carroll County (Cont.) DAVID ALBAUGH 574-967-3674 Flora 17 E. Clark Street Member Town Council Flora, IN 46929 [email protected] RANDY STRASSER 765-564-3039 201 S. Union St. 765-564-2862 X Mayor City of Delphi K AN Delphi, IN 46923 [email protected] K A Jasper County (7) K EE JAMES A. WALSTRA 219-987-2855 (H) Jasper County -I 12701 N. 1100 W. X Commissioner Commissioners ROQUO DeMotte IN 46310 JAMES C. GWIN 219-866-7619 (H) Jasper County I S nd R 630 East Grace Street 219-866-4908 (W) Representative Commissioners 2 Vice Chair EG Rensselaer In 47978 I ONAL 6 GERRIT DEVRIES 219-987-5840 (H) Jasper County P 617 Cedar St. NW 219-987-5287 (W) Council LANN DeMotte, IN 46310 PAT BERGER 219-261-3155 (H) Remington I NG PO Box 382 765-427-0357 © X Councilman Town Council C Remington IN 47977 OMM HERBERT ARIHOOD 219-866-8275 (H) I SS P.O. Box 280 219-866-5212 (W) X Mayor City of Rensselaer Exec. Comm.