WINONA LAKE – The importance of infrastructure and proposed projects in the county was the topic of discussion during the ninth annual Barn and Business Breakfast Tuesday.
The event was hosted by the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce and Kosciusko County Farm Bureau.
Rob Parker, president and CEO of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, said since the first Barn & Business Breakfast in 2015, the event brings in community leaders to talk about important topics like high-speed internet, housing, childcare, talent attraction and retention and the next generation of agriculture, “topics of interest to all of us, no matter the industry.”
The panelists during Tuesday’s breakfast were Grace College President Dr. David Flamm, OrthoWorx CEO Bob Vitoux Jr. and Kosciusko County Commissioner Cary Groninger.
In 2023, $30 million was appropriated from the state for the Orthopedic Industry Retention Initiative (OIRI) to OrthoWorx. Parker asked Vitoux to explain how the money will be used.
Indiana Sen. Ryan Mishler and Rep. Craig Snow were the influence that allowed the money to come OrthoWorx’s way, Vitoux said. It came about with a conversation Snow had with then Gov. Eric Holcomb. Snow shared concerns about losing orthopedic companies in the Kosciusko County area.
OrthoWorx is interested in putting things in place that beautify and upgrade the community in a way the next generation of workforce is attracted to. Vitoux said OrthoWorx will be working in conjunction with Grace College on projects like Grace’s business innovation center and a new fieldhouse at the sportsplex. OrthoWorx will look to redevelop the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds and reimagine what the Winona Avenue corridor could look like if they upgraded that by adding sidewalks, greenspace and crosswalks.
“And the list goes on and on and on. You might say how are you planning on doing all that with $30 million? The reality is, when Rep. Snow told us we got $30 million, he said the goal was to turn 30 into 300. So that’s what we’re striving to do is to find ways the $30 million becomes seed money. And the 300 is what we seek to go out and add to it,” Vitoux said.
Parker then asked Groninger as a member of the OIRI Vision Committee how the county benefits from the investments made possible from the initiative.
Groninger said one of the things the Vision Committee wanted was to see the whole county see a positive impact from the initiative. The Vision Committee set aside $5 million to go toward programs that improve the quality of life in small communities in the county. Groninger said there are 14 small communities in the county. The K21 Health Foundation said they could do the heavy lifting with the administration of the money. The small communities could apply for a dollar-per-dollar match grant for amenities to help upgrade their communities. The maximum award is $500,000 per community.
For the last three years, Amy Roe, Kosciusko County community coordinator, advised small communities on how they could increase their quality of life in their communities. She walked the Vision Committee through the Hoosier Enduring Legacy Program (HELP), which is a program through the state that allows the county to do 12 projects that bring quality of life in those communities.
With the additional $5 million, Groninger said it will allow “us to continue our work to find these quality-of-life opportunities that we can create in our small towns and really make it a place where we can see that partnership and collaboration happen around the county.”
Flamm was asked about the $27 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through the College and Community Collaboration (CCC) initiative.
Flamm said what Grace is supporting is things that benefit both the college and community. Grace is wanting to turn the $27 million grant into $100 million from Grace through the projects.
“What we are supporting are things that support both the college and community,” said Flamm. “We’re looking at … a new business innovation center for Grace and the community, well-being initiatives … partnering with the YMCA on utilizing our facilities and making them more community-focused than they already are now.”
Grace will be granting out money to ensure the community is a better place to work, live and play.
One of the projects set to receive money from OIRI is the downtown Warsaw parking garage, Parker said. He asked Groninger how investing in a parking garage serve to attract and retain people.
Groninger said infrastructure projects are critical everyday living quality-of-life living in the community. The proposed parking garage is a key element Warsaw needs to have downtown. The proposed project will allow for future city and county parking needs and free up current surface lots.
The additional parking would promote additional downtown building. A lot of the buildings downtown have unoccupied space on their second floor. One of the problems those residents who live downtown is there’s not a lot of places for them to park, so the parking garage will allow for off-street parking for those residents to have access to so the apartments downtown can be filled out.
Parker said one of the projects identified for the investment with OIRI money is a grant to help the Warsaw Redevelopment Commission purchase the Warsaw Chemical building on Argonne Road.
Vitoux said the concept is to bring together the local k-12 schools, Grace College and orthopedic industry and create an innovation center that will allow all those constituents to be housed in one location. He said the goal is upgrade the Argonne Road area and will give them an opportunity to reimagine what that area could be.