Madison: a community of contrast founded in 1809.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: REGIONAL REPORT SOUTHEAST

SET ON THE OHIO RIVER with 400-foot bluffs, Madison is a community of visual contrast. "Our geography forced Madison to develop on two levels," says Scott Hubbard, president of the board of the Madison Area Chamber of Commerce. "Our downtown area is full of historic houses and is nationally recognized for historic preservation. When it was time to grow our industrial, commercial and residential areas, geography required this to happen on the plateau above Madison, locally called 'the hilltop.'"

"Madison is a unique community," David Terrill, executive director of the Madison-Jefferson County Economic Development Corp., says of the town founded along the Ohio River in 1809 and today home to 12,335 people.

"We have a strong manufacturing base. It's the main driver of our economy," Terrill says. "On the other hand, we have a thriving, interesting downtown."

About 4,300 are employed at Jefferson County industries, most in Madison.

Leading Madison's industry pack is auto-parts maker Arvin Sango Inc., with nearly 750 employees; Grote Industries Inc., with a workforce of 700 making vehicle lighting and safety systems; and Rotary Lift, a Dover Company, with about 425 on the payroll making vehicle lift equipment.

Right outside town, Madison Precision Products Inc. employs some 430 at its die-casting, de-burring and machining facility.

Alvin Sango began operations in 1988 and has expanded twice since then, today occupying nearly 400,000 square feet on its 46-acre campus. Its products include exhaust system assemblies, instrument panel subassemblies, body panels and side door impact beams, supplied to Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Princeton, Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing in Columbus, and others.

Grote, headquartered in Madison and operating there since 1901, also has facilities in Canada and Mexico. It makes lamps, emergency lighting, flashers, forward lighting, wiring harnesses, coil cords, turn-signal switches, reflectors, back-up alarms, mirrors and mirror bracketry.

Rotary Lift has operated in Madison since 1925. Madison Precision Products is newer, opening in 1988 and expanding its facility four times to today's 177,000 square feet on 54 acres.

The community's largest employer, however, is not industrial or on "the hill." It's King's Daughters' Hospital, employing about 1,000, and it's in the heart of downtown. "The hospital is off Main Street, and it's a good economic anchor for our downtown," Terrill says.

"Downtown, we have some...