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Flagship helps
City of Anderson earn state
Chamber Award
The Indiana
Chamber of Commerce has named
Anderson its 2007 Community of
the Year for its efforts to
diversify the local business
base and develop partnerships
between public and private
groups to spark economic growth.
“As everyone well
knows, Anderson has long been
reliant on the automotive
industry, but the efforts in the
past year show a real effort to
diversify the economic base,”
said Tom Schuman, vice president
of communications for the
Indiana Chamber of Commerce.
A dozen cities
entered the competition this
year, Schuman said.
The chamber noted
four initiatives from the past
five years as key to Anderson’s
win: Nestlé’s new manufacturing
and distribution facility, The
Flagship business park, local
investment in infrastructure and
the city government’s various
economic initiatives.
Nestlé reiterated
its choice of Anderson.
“Anderson is the
total package for us. It’s
centralized location,
exceptional and established
transportation infrastructure
and talented work force will be
a winning combination for years
to come,” said Rob Case, Nestlé
USA’s president of the beverage
division, in an e-mail
statement.
 The
award recognized work done by
many people around the city,
Anderson Mayor Kevin Smith said.
“I think it really is a
compliment to so many businesses
and citizens who have worked
over the years to make an impact
on their community.”
The Business
Community Council nominated the
city in June. This year was the
first time Anderson had competed
in the annual contest, but those
involved with the application
said they were confident the
city would do well.
“We really felt
we’d win,” said Tammy Bowman,
who compiled the application for
the Business Community Council.
“We felt that 2007 was the year
when things were finally
culminating.”
The council is made up of
representatives from the local
chamber of commerce, association
of Realtors, the visitors and
convention bureau and the
Corporation for Economic
Development, for which Bowman
works as a research analyst.
A shift to a more
positive perception of Anderson
and documentation of local
economic progress made the
city’s application a strong
contender, she said.
“We intentionally
went back five years to get some
beginnings of some really
important developments,” Bowman
said. “One was downtown
development, and the other was
the Flagship Enterprise Center.”
Other initiatives included in
the application were investments
in city gateways, parks and
schools. The council also
estimated that in the past five
years public and private bodies
had invested at least $642
million to improve the city.
State Sen. Tim
Lanane, D-Anderson, said he was
a little surprised to hear about
the award.
“It’s good that there’s
recognition of some positive
things going on in the city,” he
said, “but there’s still a lot
of work to be done.”
Declining jobs
and increasing crime are two
challenges Lanane said the city
still needs to address more.
“I think it’s an incredible
thing to have happen for the
city,” said Dr. James L.
Edwards, president of Anderson
University, “at a time when
we’re all in this transition
toward the New Anderson.
“And this is only
the beginning. The pipeline
seems to be very favorable to
Anderson right now.”
Along with statewide attention
from the Indiana Chamber of
Commerce, the award will become
another point the city will use
in its own marketing efforts.
“Being recognized
as the Community of the Year
will have an incredibly positive
impact on our economic
development marketing efforts,”
Bowman said. “Employers want to
invest in progressive
communities where they know
their most talented employees
will be happy to live and work.”
The distinction
also brings attention to work of
Anderson’s own business
community.
“This is
recognition from the Indiana
Chamber of Commerce that we’ve
made a lot of progress and are
on our way back up,” said Keith
Pitcher, president of the
Chamber of Commerce for Anderson
& Madison County. “I think we’ve
certainly been down, and in the
last few years we’ve started to
come back and diversify the
economy.”
Patti Kuhn,
executive director for the
Anderson/Madison County
Association of Realtors, said
the award recognized the
Business Community Council’s
efforts to improve the local
economy and strengthens the
confidence in the city that came
with Nestlé’s arrival.
“This was the
year where we washed away
General Motors forever and
stepped into the future,” she
said. “Nestlé was a big part of
that, and with Nestlé other
companies will follow.”
With local people feeling
better, the positive attitude
should begin to reach beyond the
county’s borders, Kuhn said.
“This is good for
Anderson,” she said. “People
will start talking.”
---BARRETT
NEWKIRK is a reporter with the
Anderson Herald Bulletin. For
more stories visit the herald
bulletin web site at
www.theheraldbulletin.com .
Story posted with permission |
