Jeffersonville.

• Author: CHIAT, TOM

"Jeffersonville traces its roots to the Ohio River," says Tom Galligan, mayor of the historic southern Indiana town that celebrates its heritage with an annual Steamboat Festival.

Founded in 1804, Jeffersonville attracted businesses eager to use the river to transport their goods to other markets. A U.S. Army Quartermaster Depot was built in Jeffersonville during the Civil War. The town was a staging point for Union troops and supplies moving south via the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Early in Jeffersonville's history, a shipyard opened to build riverboats. Today, shipyard business continues at Jeffboat Inc., the largest inland shipbuilding company in the United States, employing 1,100 people at its Jeffersonville operation.

"The river is the key to our past and present," Galligan emphasizes. "It remains vital to our business interests."

Some of those interests are served by the Clark Maritime Centre, a 950-acre port and riverfront business park owned by the state of Indiana. Port space is leased to businesses and industries that depend, in part, on the Ohio River to move their raw materials and finished goods.

"We provide waterway and rail transportation," says Brian Sieg, acting port director, "and this makes us an ideal business location." Located near the junction of I-64, I-65 and I-71, the center is a versatile hub for business. "We currently have 21 companies located here in the center," says Sieg, "and we have room for more."

The combined southern Indiana and Louisville metropolitan area population of more than 1.2 million people provides current employers and new businesses an ample force of skilled workers. One organization with a heavy workforce requirement is the U.S. Bureau of the Census, which employs 1,100 at its Jeffersonville-based National Processing Center. During each decennial Census, additional workers are added to handle the increased workload. Approximately 5,500 workers will spend three years processing the 2000 Census.

Companies likewise have little trouble meeting their real estate needs in Jeffersonville. "Jeffersonville is bounded...