Delaware County public officials are making a push to bring foreign investors to East Central Indiana in hopes it also will create jobs for local workers.
Energize East Central Indiana, a Muncie based company, started this initiative to bring more foreign business to the area. The program is called EB-5, and it acts as a fast-track program for immigrants to obtain an American visa if they start a business in East Central Indiana with at least 10 employees.
Among the nine counties involved, Delaware County's unemployment rate is the lowest at 9.7 percent, according to January statistics from statsindiana.edu, the most recent data available.
Executive Director of Energize ECI Roy Budd said he first heard of the EB-5 program while he was traveling internationally with Gov. Mitch Daniels a few yeas ago. The idea came about when they were meeting with the head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Budd said.
Michael Hicks, director of Ball State University Center for Business and Economic Research, said Indiana is well-suited to attract foreign business because it's one of the few states that has remained fiscally solvent during the past year.
"It's such a random thing," he said. "If you're out there selling all the time, you've got a better chance of attracting businesses."
Budd said Energize ECI is specifically trying to attract companies from Europe and China. He expects to attract foreign investors from the fields of logistics, advanced manufacturers, food processing and distribution.
He said this is the first project to attract businesses through the EB-5 program in Indiana, the fifth in the Midwest and one of 70 in America
Terry Murphy, vice president of Economic Development in Delaware County, said this summer Delaware County officials will try to attract foreign business from Japan, China, Europe and possibly Turkey.
"I only see a plus side to it," he said. "New businesses will bring construction jobs here as well. All the service industries will benefit."
Murphy said initial job creation could result in job opportunities for students and those just out of college.
So far no foreign companies are on board with the program, and Hicks said it's hard to speculate when the program will actually get started.
"New business attractions don't follow any certain pattern," he said. "It usually takes place every three or four years."
Hicks said Delaware County has lost 12,000 manufacturing jobs over the past decade. East Central Indiana has seen static job growth, partly because of the difficulty in rebounding from the 2001 recession, he said.
However, Hicks said Indiana will have a better chance of attracting foreign investors than other states because of it's "trustworthy tax system."
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