Governor Makes Stop In Etna Green ...
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Governor Makes Stop In Etna Green ...
By Jennifer [email protected]
Daniels was asked what he feels are Indiana's current top challenges and priorities.
"Priorities are building a stronger economy and private sector, creating more jobs with better pay and these are all things we have organized our administration around and they are more true now than ever," Daniels said.
Daniels said the state needs to keep taxes down to foster economic growth.
"The economy will come back, and when it does we want to still be the most attractive place and I think we can be," Daniels said.
Daniels addressed the topic of school funding for Indiana.
He warned Monday during a press conference that public schools will face an extraordinary difficult state budget in 2011 unless the national economy shows significant improvement by then.
"We did absolutely everything else first before we had to take a little cut out of the education budget, and we have grown education spending on our watch by 12 percent," Daniels said Wednesday.
Daniels said he didn't like the education cuts any more than anyone else, and said other areas in the budget were cut first and much more deeply than education funding.
"Education funding is half the budget now. For the first time in the state's history, one of every two state tax dollars you pay goes to schools," Daniels said.
"One thing we really don't want to do when people have to make ends meet and we are trying to bring jobs to the state is raise taxes," Daniels said.
He said Indiana has one of the weakest records in the country of getting dollars to the classroom and only about 61 cents of every education dollar gets to the classroom.
He said now is the time for real leadership to bring education reform and said some districts have started to combine their administrations.
In Munster Tuesday night the teachers union agreed to skip a pay raise so there would not be teacher reductions in their school, according to Daniels.
"I'm for paying good teachers and we do, but adjusted for the cost of living it's a little bit lower here," Daniels said.
He said the average Indiana teacher makes $49,000-plus and the average Hoosier worker makes $39,000-plus and that worker works all year long.
Daniels said he wants to reward the education profession, but as matters stand the average worker saw their pay decrease last year and some lost their jobs completely.
Daniels was asked if he is seeking the presidency seat in 2012 as rumored, and he said he does not have plans to run.
"I'm not planning to or expecting to run for president and I have a job as governor that I am very committed to that is keeping me busy," Daniels said.
"I'm troubled about certain things and the direction and condition of the country like a lot of people, and I would like to have something constructive to say about that, but there are other ways to do that than run for president."
He fielded a question on his thoughts on Senator Evan Bayh not seeking re-election.
"I was surprised, of course, and it was a shock that anyone would wait that long and then quit, but I think we have a number of good people running for Senate and I will support the Republican nominee, whoever emerges," Daniels said.
Daniels answered a question about why he supported putting property tax caps in the Constitution.
A bill passed by lawmakers could result in schools losing an important, alternative source of funding in November. Voters will decide a state constitutional amendment that would limit property tax bills to 1 percent of homes' assessed value, 2 percent on rental property and 3 percent on business property.
Daniels has supported to include the caps in the constitution, and said it would make property tax cuts harder to undo by future legislatures.
"I don't want the reductions and the caps to be taken away, and it's not clear how a court would view reading our Constitution as it stands," Daniels said. "We are adjusting the Constitution to make it crystal clear that this is the law of the state and the only way to amend the Constitution is let the people decide."
He said in the past, the government reduced property taxes in Indiana offset by higher state taxes, but unfortunately those didn't last and a few years later the property taxes were higher again.
[[In-content Ad]]NORTH MANCHESTER - Governor Mitch Daniels was on hand for the opening of Novae Corp. near North Manchester Wednesday afternoon.
The Sure-Trac Trailer Division of Novae recently purchased the former Dexter Axle building on Ind. 114 east of North Manchester and expects to employ approximately 80 workers during the first phase of its new operations here.
Novae President and Chief Development Officer Mike Bermes said his company will invest $2.1 million in the new venture. In addition to buying the 88,000-square-foot facility at 11870 N. CR 650E and the 73 acres it sits on, Novae will spend $818,500 on building improvements, $236,000 on new equipment and $75,000 for its own wastewater treatment plant.
To assist Novae in its venture, the company will receive:
- A $500,000 Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to be administered through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs;
- Performance-based tax credits of $750,000 over 10 years from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. under that agency's Economic Development for a Growing Economy program;
- A county economic development tax grant of $200,000 from Wabash County;
- A County Economic Development Income Tax grant of $200,000 from the town of North Manchester;
- A CEDIT grant of $10,000 from the city of Wabash.
"The cooperation among economic development and elected officials from North Manchester, Wabash County and the city of Wabash was a significant factor in the Novae Corp. decision to expand in northeast Indiana," Bill Konyha, president and CEO of the Economic Development Group of Wabash County, said.
This marks the second time in less than a month that these three governmental bodies cooperated to enhance the economic development of Wabash County. Earlier they worked together to create a Tax Increment Finance district for Cinergy MetroNet to help finance its venture to bring fiber-optic cable to the county.
"We need to work together," said Chris Garber, president of the North Manchester town board, "and this was a good cooperative effort. Of course, it has a lot of benefit for us, but it also has positive benefit for the entire county.
"It requires a lot of trust, and EDG is right there in the middle making it work," he continued.
Bob Vanlandingham, Wabash's mayor, said, "We have to think regionally when it comes to economic development, but the first step is to think of your own county. I'm honored that we could be a part of this project."
"This project and this kind of cooperation have far-reaching effects," said Barry Eppley, president of the Wabash County Commissioners. "Economic development is not a destination, it is an ongoing process, and it is exciting to see a company make Wabash County its choice.
"It is important to keep our business community healthy, and new jobs will help foster that good health," Eppley said. "We hope this project will benefit our existing businesses."
Konyha said Novae officials contacted EDG through its Web site in November and said they were looking to expand. "Things heated up between Christmas and New Year's," he continued.
"The Dexter Axle facility was the most marketable building we had. It has 24-foot ceilings, the building is in great shape and it has plenty of land on which to grow," Konyha said.
Novae was also looking at sites in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, he said.
"In an industry that has been especially hard hit by national and global economic conditions, Novae has found a way to grow and continue to create new opportunities for Hoosiers," Daniels said. "This is further proof that Northeast Indiana is the best place around for small businesses to prosper."
Konyha said the average salary at the Novae plant will be $15.60 per hour plus benefits.
The North Manchester location gives Novae three locations. Company officials expect revenues this year to be about $30 million.
Dexter Axle closed the North Manchester plant about 18 months ago to consolidate its operations in Noble County.
Daniels was asked what he feels are Indiana's current top challenges and priorities.
"Priorities are building a stronger economy and private sector, creating more jobs with better pay and these are all things we have organized our administration around and they are more true now than ever," Daniels said.
Daniels said the state needs to keep taxes down to foster economic growth.
"The economy will come back, and when it does we want to still be the most attractive place and I think we can be," Daniels said.
Daniels addressed the topic of school funding for Indiana.
He warned Monday during a press conference that public schools will face an extraordinary difficult state budget in 2011 unless the national economy shows significant improvement by then.
"We did absolutely everything else first before we had to take a little cut out of the education budget, and we have grown education spending on our watch by 12 percent," Daniels said Wednesday.
Daniels said he didn't like the education cuts any more than anyone else, and said other areas in the budget were cut first and much more deeply than education funding.
"Education funding is half the budget now. For the first time in the state's history, one of every two state tax dollars you pay goes to schools," Daniels said.
"One thing we really don't want to do when people have to make ends meet and we are trying to bring jobs to the state is raise taxes," Daniels said.
He said Indiana has one of the weakest records in the country of getting dollars to the classroom and only about 61 cents of every education dollar gets to the classroom.
He said now is the time for real leadership to bring education reform and said some districts have started to combine their administrations.
In Munster Tuesday night the teachers union agreed to skip a pay raise so there would not be teacher reductions in their school, according to Daniels.
"I'm for paying good teachers and we do, but adjusted for the cost of living it's a little bit lower here," Daniels said.
He said the average Indiana teacher makes $49,000-plus and the average Hoosier worker makes $39,000-plus and that worker works all year long.
Daniels said he wants to reward the education profession, but as matters stand the average worker saw their pay decrease last year and some lost their jobs completely.
Daniels was asked if he is seeking the presidency seat in 2012 as rumored, and he said he does not have plans to run.
"I'm not planning to or expecting to run for president and I have a job as governor that I am very committed to that is keeping me busy," Daniels said.
"I'm troubled about certain things and the direction and condition of the country like a lot of people, and I would like to have something constructive to say about that, but there are other ways to do that than run for president."
He fielded a question on his thoughts on Senator Evan Bayh not seeking re-election.
"I was surprised, of course, and it was a shock that anyone would wait that long and then quit, but I think we have a number of good people running for Senate and I will support the Republican nominee, whoever emerges," Daniels said.
Daniels answered a question about why he supported putting property tax caps in the Constitution.
A bill passed by lawmakers could result in schools losing an important, alternative source of funding in November. Voters will decide a state constitutional amendment that would limit property tax bills to 1 percent of homes' assessed value, 2 percent on rental property and 3 percent on business property.
Daniels has supported to include the caps in the constitution, and said it would make property tax cuts harder to undo by future legislatures.
"I don't want the reductions and the caps to be taken away, and it's not clear how a court would view reading our Constitution as it stands," Daniels said. "We are adjusting the Constitution to make it crystal clear that this is the law of the state and the only way to amend the Constitution is let the people decide."
He said in the past, the government reduced property taxes in Indiana offset by higher state taxes, but unfortunately those didn't last and a few years later the property taxes were higher again.
[[In-content Ad]]NORTH MANCHESTER - Governor Mitch Daniels was on hand for the opening of Novae Corp. near North Manchester Wednesday afternoon.
The Sure-Trac Trailer Division of Novae recently purchased the former Dexter Axle building on Ind. 114 east of North Manchester and expects to employ approximately 80 workers during the first phase of its new operations here.
Novae President and Chief Development Officer Mike Bermes said his company will invest $2.1 million in the new venture. In addition to buying the 88,000-square-foot facility at 11870 N. CR 650E and the 73 acres it sits on, Novae will spend $818,500 on building improvements, $236,000 on new equipment and $75,000 for its own wastewater treatment plant.
To assist Novae in its venture, the company will receive:
- A $500,000 Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, to be administered through the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs;
- Performance-based tax credits of $750,000 over 10 years from the Indiana Economic Development Corp. under that agency's Economic Development for a Growing Economy program;
- A county economic development tax grant of $200,000 from Wabash County;
- A County Economic Development Income Tax grant of $200,000 from the town of North Manchester;
- A CEDIT grant of $10,000 from the city of Wabash.
"The cooperation among economic development and elected officials from North Manchester, Wabash County and the city of Wabash was a significant factor in the Novae Corp. decision to expand in northeast Indiana," Bill Konyha, president and CEO of the Economic Development Group of Wabash County, said.
This marks the second time in less than a month that these three governmental bodies cooperated to enhance the economic development of Wabash County. Earlier they worked together to create a Tax Increment Finance district for Cinergy MetroNet to help finance its venture to bring fiber-optic cable to the county.
"We need to work together," said Chris Garber, president of the North Manchester town board, "and this was a good cooperative effort. Of course, it has a lot of benefit for us, but it also has positive benefit for the entire county.
"It requires a lot of trust, and EDG is right there in the middle making it work," he continued.
Bob Vanlandingham, Wabash's mayor, said, "We have to think regionally when it comes to economic development, but the first step is to think of your own county. I'm honored that we could be a part of this project."
"This project and this kind of cooperation have far-reaching effects," said Barry Eppley, president of the Wabash County Commissioners. "Economic development is not a destination, it is an ongoing process, and it is exciting to see a company make Wabash County its choice.
"It is important to keep our business community healthy, and new jobs will help foster that good health," Eppley said. "We hope this project will benefit our existing businesses."
Konyha said Novae officials contacted EDG through its Web site in November and said they were looking to expand. "Things heated up between Christmas and New Year's," he continued.
"The Dexter Axle facility was the most marketable building we had. It has 24-foot ceilings, the building is in great shape and it has plenty of land on which to grow," Konyha said.
Novae was also looking at sites in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, he said.
"In an industry that has been especially hard hit by national and global economic conditions, Novae has found a way to grow and continue to create new opportunities for Hoosiers," Daniels said. "This is further proof that Northeast Indiana is the best place around for small businesses to prosper."
Konyha said the average salary at the Novae plant will be $15.60 per hour plus benefits.
The North Manchester location gives Novae three locations. Company officials expect revenues this year to be about $30 million.
Dexter Axle closed the North Manchester plant about 18 months ago to consolidate its operations in Noble County.
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