Kosciusko County is nearer to closing the pre-recession job gap than surrounding areas, the county redevelopment commission heard Thursday. The county is within 1,000 jobs of meeting the pre-recession high point of 2007, according to George Robertson, president of the Kosciusko Economic Development Corp. He compared the number to Elkhart, which is still 13,000 jobs behind; Allen County, at about 20,000 jobs; and St. Joseph, at 12,000 jobs. Only Whitley is on similar footing to Kosciusko, he said. “In the state of Indiana, we were not considered a player. People were not referred here,” Robertson said. “We’re now a player, in fact we’ve jumped from being a player to one of the strongest players.” As well as reviewing the job scene in 2012 during the meeting – such as business expansions in Milford and Syracuse, and land opening for development in both areas – he tried to offer a prediction for this year, which he noted is difficult given the “wait and see” attitude many businesses still display. He remarked that three announcements are expected this month, and that two “very initial” prospects were submitted to Milford for its industrial park in the works. “Last year was very successful for the county, very busy,” he told commission members. “I think this will be a real tentative wait-and-see year ... We will have to work to make this year as good as last year, but that’s OK, we’re not afraid of a little bit of hard work.” Henry DeJulia, commission president and Syracuse town manager, reported on development of the industrial park about a mile north of his city. On the assumption of 12 industries taking root, he said they expect the site to attract between 200 and 300 new jobs as well as $22 million in new investment. There would be additional jobs in construction and through “indirect effects,” he said. Any town could do the same thing, he added, though remarking that towns have a limited toolset at their disposal – state funds, Tax Increment Finance districting and tax abatements. DeJulia noted that Syracuse lost about a third of its 1,700 manufacturing jobs since 2007, and that the town is making the industrial park as shovel-ready as possible with extension of roads and utilities. “That’s the reason for the whole project,” he said. “It’s important to make it easy for business to do business ... If we get the jobs created that we want, we’ll have achieved what we want.”
