Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Indiana is growing in terms of the number of manufacturing jobs and plants, according to the latest Indiana Manufacturers Directory.
But for Warsaw, the news is somewhat of a mixed bag.
The state posted gains in both the number of manufacturing facilities and jobs - 2.18 and 1.02 percent respectively. Warsaw lost 300 jobs, a 2.92 percent loss, but gained six plants, a 5.17 percent increase.
According to the directory, Warsaw posted 10,284 manufacturing jobs in 116 plants at the beginning of the year. The The state total 767,015 jobs in 12,296 manufacturing plants.
The decrease in the number of jobs, while not particularly welcome news to Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins, is not a cause for distress, either.
"The decrease in the number of jobs is largely the result of some industrial downsizing in 1998," he said. "But we're lucky in that we have a diversified industrial base - with the medical devices and printing industries - that we're better able to weather hard economic times than other communities.
"The loss last year isn't terribly upsetting because these companies are having to compete in the international market, against firms that have significantly lower wage rates," he added. "We are optimistic that Johnson and Johnson is bringing in approximately 140 jobs to DePuy."
Wiggins said it's important to have industrial facilities and jobs in the city, because they provide the resources necessary to keep the quality of life all city residents enjoy and have come to expect.
"It's important to have the industrial development, because those jobs are the highest paying jobs, and the tax rate is the highest on industrial developments," he said. "That's the bottom line. We have to keep our tax base diverse, so the tax burden on the individual homeowner isn't too heavy.
"Traditionally, it's the industrial sector that bears the brunt of the tax load to pay for the services and amenities we have here," Wiggins added.
The city and county work closely with the Warsaw Chamber of Commerce and Kosciusko Development Inc. to sell the quality of life and other assets this area has to offer.
"We work closely with both those organizations in finding suitable sites to market and to sell the city and county on the other quality of life factors we have, such as the schools and the many lakes," Wiggins said.
The efforts of the Chamber of Commerce and of KDI are the responsibility of Joy McCarthy-Sessing, who serves as director for both organizations.
McCarthy-Sessing said while both the chamber and KDI are always looking for new businesses to locate here, their primary goals are to retain the industry already here.
"We concentrate our efforts on retaining our existing industry," she said. "We've been a major facilitator in keeping Sofamor Danek Manufacturing in Warsaw and working with the state as a liaison for grants and income tax credits."
The reason retention has taken a priority over business recruitment is that, while the quality of the area's workers is very good, there are just too few of them, McCarthy-Sessing said.
"A lot of our current employers are telling me it's difficult to find qualified employees. This is true at all skill levels," she said.
What can be done to expand the area's labor pool?
"That's the $64,000 question among economic development professionals," McCarthy-Sessing said. "How do you get enough qualified workers? You may have to go out and recruit them also. But a lot of that depends on how the economy holds together. If we've recruited a lot of new workers into the area and the economy has a downturn, then we could have a situation that's worse than not having enough workers."
The lack of workers notwithstanding, both the Chamber of Commerce and KDI are working to market Warsaw and Kosciusko County as an ideal place to locate a business and family.
"The chamber has participated in the state advertising cooperative for several years. The cooperative places ads in the major industry and trade publications," McCarthy-Sessing said. "KDI has just recently started to participate in the co-op.
"The KDI board will also begin contacting the CEOs of the top 20 employers in the county," she said. "Over the next year, we hope to develop a firm understanding of what they need."
