CRI Director Praises County, Offers Tips For Improvement
March 5, 2020 at 11:42 p.m.
CRI Director Praises County, Offers Tips For Improvement
By David [email protected]
Rachel Blakeman is the director of the Purdue University Fort Wayne Community Research Institute (CRI). In her speech, she presented community and economic development findings and recommendations for Kosciusko County from the CRI’s Small Cities, Big Futures project.
“Kosciusko County is starting from a position of strength. You are in a very enviable spot in northeast Indiana for the fact that you have corporate headquarters and some diversity in your economy. You’re in a really good spot,” she said.
Last year, the 2017 USDA Agriculture Census numbers came out. From that information, Blakeman revealed Kosciusko County is No. 4 out of 92 counties in the state for the total market value of agriculture products sold. The county also accounts for 3% of the state’s agricultural sales.
Warsaw and eight other “similary situated” cities were compared to see what could be learned from that. Those Midwestern peer cities included Batesville, Ind.; Lancaster, Ohio; Benton Harbor, Mich.; Midland, Mich.; Bloomington, Ill.; Peoria, Ill.; Columbus, Ind.; and Findlay, Ohio. They were cities that managed to keep their corporate headquarters and some which did not. Warsaw’s corporate headquarters include Zimmer Biomet and DePuy Synthes.
“So what we did was we looked at the data from Kosciusko County. Then we also did a (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) SWOT-PEST (Politics, Economics, Social aspect, Technology) analysis, so that was the qualitative function – what is it that you like about living here, what are the weaknesses that you need to be addressing,” Blakeman explained.
Two site visits were made about a year ago to Findlay and Benton Harbor.
The result of all of that was a written report and a two-page handout that include 19 actionable recommendations to improve Warsaw’s prosperity and quality of place, a few of them which she reviewed. She said when she refers to Warsaw, she’s talking about the whole of Kosciusko County, not Warsaw proper.
The Small Cities, Big Futures project was completed in 2018, reviewing 2017 data. Looking at the peer cities data, Blakeman said Warsaw had the lowest unemployment of the nine cities evaluated at 2.7% for 2017, tied with Columbus.
“I’m pleased to report that your most recent numbers are still at 2.7%. So for those of you who are looking for workers, you know how tight that job market is, that this is proving to be a challenge, ... but you’re in an enviable position there,” Blakeman said.
To look at commuting patterns, the CRI used 2015 data because cities outside of Indiana were being compared. “What you are going to notice is that you are a net importer of workers,” she said. “You have about 2,000 people who drive into Kosciusko County for work. Two thousand more people who travel in than out.”
In 2015, there were 16,191 people traveling into Kosciusko, versus 14,113 people traveling out of it. Blakeman said most of the workers leaving the county for work were going to Elkhart County to presumably work in the RV industry. Workers coming into the county are from Whitley, Allen and other area counties, she said.
Next, Blakeman looked at the 2017 Kosciusko Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP of all industries was about $4.8 billion. About $1.7 billion comes from medical equipment and supplies manufacturing.
An estimated $116 million – 2.4% of the county’s GDP – comes from agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. Of that, about $17.7 million is from crop production, with about $90.7 million from animal production.
Blakeman discussed the 2017 employment concentration, which is how many jobs the county has compared to the United States. “If you take a look at this, you’ll realize that you have 87 times the number of manufacturing workers in medical devices as the United States, which is to be expected for the (orthopedic capital) of the world,” she said.
Anything that has a location quotation above 1.25 is an industry that brings new dollars into the local economy, she said. On a chart, she pointed out the location quotations above 1.25 for agriculture, which showed that agriculture is bringing new dollars into Kosciusko’s economy.
Blakeman said that when they looked at the county’s SWOT-PEST, “What we often found was that your greatest strength was your significant weakness. When we looked at it, it fell into two buckets. That you have the commercial and business functions that are working well and maybe some areas of improvement. Then you have the residential and lifestyle functions.”
She said the dominance of the orthopedic medical device industry is significant for the county because it benefits the county, but also puts the county at risk because “we don’t know what’s going to happen with that.” There was a concern about changes and regulations to the healthcare sector. There’s also workforce challenges.
As for educational offerings, Blakeman said, “People are actually very pleased. This was an area of strength for you” from Grace College and Ivy Tech to K-12 education.
Two other concerns were lack of commercial air service and need for broadband internet.
Under the residential and lifestyle side, people appreciate the lakes but she said there was a need for winter activities. There was concern about housing, workers living outside Kosciusko County, a need for welcomeness and a need for branding and identity.
Of the 19 recommendations, Blakeman highlighted six.
The first was “strengthen collaboration across all sectors” – the idea that “you’re all working together,” she said. “The reason why this was a recommendation, and the first recommendation that we made in this project, is because collaboration was a consistent theme that we saw in the other high-performing peer cities.”
The next highlighted recommendation was to “strengthen agricultural sector.” She said this is an existing economic strength for Kosciusko County and can be made stronger.
“Enhance entrepreneurial supports” is the idea of “grow your own.” She pointed out work that Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., OrthoWorx and Grace College are doing in that area.
Another recommendation was to “create talent attraction programs to connect candidates and families.” “You have very attractive jobs for people, but often you need very specialized folks to do that work. So how do we get them to come to Kosciusko County to work, and how do you retain them?” she said. Blakeman pointed out that often times when a person is brought in, they have a spouse that needs a job.
The fifth highlighted recommendation was to “update comprehensive countywide land use plan.” Without a countywide plan, that can lead to jurisdictional inconsistencies. Related to that, the last highlighted recommendation was to “develop new housing options: high-end apartments, single-family homes.”
“I will tell you that housing is a consistent theme that I hear from across northeast Indiana,” Blakeman said. “You’re not unique in this. There’s a need to jumpstart this.”
Rachel Blakeman is the director of the Purdue University Fort Wayne Community Research Institute (CRI). In her speech, she presented community and economic development findings and recommendations for Kosciusko County from the CRI’s Small Cities, Big Futures project.
“Kosciusko County is starting from a position of strength. You are in a very enviable spot in northeast Indiana for the fact that you have corporate headquarters and some diversity in your economy. You’re in a really good spot,” she said.
Last year, the 2017 USDA Agriculture Census numbers came out. From that information, Blakeman revealed Kosciusko County is No. 4 out of 92 counties in the state for the total market value of agriculture products sold. The county also accounts for 3% of the state’s agricultural sales.
Warsaw and eight other “similary situated” cities were compared to see what could be learned from that. Those Midwestern peer cities included Batesville, Ind.; Lancaster, Ohio; Benton Harbor, Mich.; Midland, Mich.; Bloomington, Ill.; Peoria, Ill.; Columbus, Ind.; and Findlay, Ohio. They were cities that managed to keep their corporate headquarters and some which did not. Warsaw’s corporate headquarters include Zimmer Biomet and DePuy Synthes.
“So what we did was we looked at the data from Kosciusko County. Then we also did a (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) SWOT-PEST (Politics, Economics, Social aspect, Technology) analysis, so that was the qualitative function – what is it that you like about living here, what are the weaknesses that you need to be addressing,” Blakeman explained.
Two site visits were made about a year ago to Findlay and Benton Harbor.
The result of all of that was a written report and a two-page handout that include 19 actionable recommendations to improve Warsaw’s prosperity and quality of place, a few of them which she reviewed. She said when she refers to Warsaw, she’s talking about the whole of Kosciusko County, not Warsaw proper.
The Small Cities, Big Futures project was completed in 2018, reviewing 2017 data. Looking at the peer cities data, Blakeman said Warsaw had the lowest unemployment of the nine cities evaluated at 2.7% for 2017, tied with Columbus.
“I’m pleased to report that your most recent numbers are still at 2.7%. So for those of you who are looking for workers, you know how tight that job market is, that this is proving to be a challenge, ... but you’re in an enviable position there,” Blakeman said.
To look at commuting patterns, the CRI used 2015 data because cities outside of Indiana were being compared. “What you are going to notice is that you are a net importer of workers,” she said. “You have about 2,000 people who drive into Kosciusko County for work. Two thousand more people who travel in than out.”
In 2015, there were 16,191 people traveling into Kosciusko, versus 14,113 people traveling out of it. Blakeman said most of the workers leaving the county for work were going to Elkhart County to presumably work in the RV industry. Workers coming into the county are from Whitley, Allen and other area counties, she said.
Next, Blakeman looked at the 2017 Kosciusko Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP of all industries was about $4.8 billion. About $1.7 billion comes from medical equipment and supplies manufacturing.
An estimated $116 million – 2.4% of the county’s GDP – comes from agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. Of that, about $17.7 million is from crop production, with about $90.7 million from animal production.
Blakeman discussed the 2017 employment concentration, which is how many jobs the county has compared to the United States. “If you take a look at this, you’ll realize that you have 87 times the number of manufacturing workers in medical devices as the United States, which is to be expected for the (orthopedic capital) of the world,” she said.
Anything that has a location quotation above 1.25 is an industry that brings new dollars into the local economy, she said. On a chart, she pointed out the location quotations above 1.25 for agriculture, which showed that agriculture is bringing new dollars into Kosciusko’s economy.
Blakeman said that when they looked at the county’s SWOT-PEST, “What we often found was that your greatest strength was your significant weakness. When we looked at it, it fell into two buckets. That you have the commercial and business functions that are working well and maybe some areas of improvement. Then you have the residential and lifestyle functions.”
She said the dominance of the orthopedic medical device industry is significant for the county because it benefits the county, but also puts the county at risk because “we don’t know what’s going to happen with that.” There was a concern about changes and regulations to the healthcare sector. There’s also workforce challenges.
As for educational offerings, Blakeman said, “People are actually very pleased. This was an area of strength for you” from Grace College and Ivy Tech to K-12 education.
Two other concerns were lack of commercial air service and need for broadband internet.
Under the residential and lifestyle side, people appreciate the lakes but she said there was a need for winter activities. There was concern about housing, workers living outside Kosciusko County, a need for welcomeness and a need for branding and identity.
Of the 19 recommendations, Blakeman highlighted six.
The first was “strengthen collaboration across all sectors” – the idea that “you’re all working together,” she said. “The reason why this was a recommendation, and the first recommendation that we made in this project, is because collaboration was a consistent theme that we saw in the other high-performing peer cities.”
The next highlighted recommendation was to “strengthen agricultural sector.” She said this is an existing economic strength for Kosciusko County and can be made stronger.
“Enhance entrepreneurial supports” is the idea of “grow your own.” She pointed out work that Kosciusko Economic Development Corp., OrthoWorx and Grace College are doing in that area.
Another recommendation was to “create talent attraction programs to connect candidates and families.” “You have very attractive jobs for people, but often you need very specialized folks to do that work. So how do we get them to come to Kosciusko County to work, and how do you retain them?” she said. Blakeman pointed out that often times when a person is brought in, they have a spouse that needs a job.
The fifth highlighted recommendation was to “update comprehensive countywide land use plan.” Without a countywide plan, that can lead to jurisdictional inconsistencies. Related to that, the last highlighted recommendation was to “develop new housing options: high-end apartments, single-family homes.”
“I will tell you that housing is a consistent theme that I hear from across northeast Indiana,” Blakeman said. “You’re not unique in this. There’s a need to jumpstart this.”
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