Wabash is an old town that continues to learn new tricks — and the same could be said for the county that shares its name.
In 2010, the Honeywell Foundation completed a renovation of the beloved Eagles Theatre;
downtown organization Wabash Marketplace leveraged $300,000 or so in facade grants into improvements valued at several multiples of that; and the county logged five major projects with capital investments that totaled almost $70.5 million and promised to create 472 jobs.
More than half the investment, and 63.6 percent of the jobs, is coming from the $37-million
expansion of energy drink manufacturer Living Essentials, according to the Economic
Development Group of Wabash County.
The Cinergy MetroNet installation of fiber-optic service accounted for $15 million in investment;the completion of the Charley Creek Inn renovation early in the year was estimated at about $12.4 million; Novae Corp.’s establishment of trailer manufacturing operations in North Manchester accounted for $6 million; and an expansion by Reynolds Oil brought an $80,000 investment.
The EDG is currently working on 11 other economic development leads, and has informal
commitments on three of those, said Bill Konyha, the organization’s chief executive officer.
One thing economic development organizations and governmental units in Wabash County
have learned is to cooperate rather than compete with each other, said Kimberly Pinkerton, president and CEO of the Wabash County Chamber of Commerce.
“I think that our efforts really started about four years ago to work together,” she said.
The cooperation that created a tax increment financing district to assist with the Cinergy
MetroNet fiber-to-the premises installation is one example. The Cinergy MetroNet economicdevelopment area includes: the entire city of Wabash; the new Wabash
East Business Park at State Route 13 and U.S. 24; the public right of way along S.R. 15
between Wabash and S.R. 114, then east on S.R. 114 to North Manchester; and the entire town of North Manchester.
“That will be instrumental in allowing us to provide a strong tax base and attract good jobs,” Pinkerton said.
Wabash Marketplace administered the facade grant program, which matched individual
investments with up to $10,000 in federal funds. About 30 recipients were awarded grants in two phases in 2010, and the downtown organization also provided loans, through another fund, to help some of those businesses put up their share of the investment.
“Because of the energy that this created, we were able to leverage millions of dollars in
investment,” said Parker Beauchamp, president of Wabash Marketplace. “And because it’s only the front of the buildings, it makes a huge impact visually.” Pinkerton said she’s seeing more interest from retailers about the possibility of locating somewhere in or around the city.
“People are liking what they’re seeing, and it goes back to seeing what’s going on at the core and the great future we have working together,” she said.
One effort in which Beauchamp and other downtown proponents did not succeed, however,
was to persuade the board of Wabash County Hospital to build a planned new facility on 19
acres at and around Bulldog Battery.
Although the board has yet to announce its selection of a site, Beauchamp was told in
November by hospital President and CEO Marilyn Custer-Mitchell that the downtown site was out of the running.
The other two properties said to be under consideration are on the southeast corner of U.S. 24and Alber Street, and diagonally opposite, on the northwest corner behind Walmart.
“It’s not really a disappointment, although it would have been a great addition to the
downtown,” Pinkerton said. “It would have been a nice enhancement, but it’s going to be a
win-win no matter where it is.”
One big enhancement for the downtown was the reopening in November of the Eagles
Theatre, which had been closed for a few months for rehab and restoration.
“It’s amazing the goodwill that created in the community,” Beauchamp said. “It’s been great to see all the lights on in the marquee and the little kids lined up out the door and down the street for free movies.”
