Mooresville.

• Author: Beck, Bill
• Position: Indiana; economic development projects

Mooresville bills itself as "a friendly place to live," and the northern Morgan County community of 6,200 people is poised for significant growth during the 1990s.

"We saw no recession during the late 1980s," says Randy Haymaker, "and we expect to add about 900 new houses during the period from 1991 to 1998."

Haymaker, a former Mooresville journalist who works as the city's economic-development director, started the Mooresville Development Commission from scratch five years ago. There were two reasons for the city to involve itself in economic development, Haymaker explains. Mooresville wanted to expand its tax base, and the city saw a need to support its existing businesses.

"Our school district was 60th in the state in population," Haymaker says, "but we were 280th in the state in tax base per student. Obviously, we were out of balance."

Since starting, the commission has shepherded 10 major projects to completion, creating 335 new jobs and retaining 120 existing jobs. That's meant a new payroll of $11.2 million for the community, along with capital investments of nearly $21 million.

The community has an increasingly diverse economic base. The community reported a 10 percent spurt in housing growth last year, and its assessed valuation went up 14 percent in 1992.

Mooresville's location on Indiana 67 about 10 miles southwest of Interstate 465 attracts businesses interested in a small-town work ethic and way of life, with big-city amenities close by. "From my office to the Circle (in downtown Indianapolis), it's closer than from my office to Martinsville," Haymaker says.

One business executive attracted to the mix of small-town and big-city life is Frank Lowry, the owner of LinEl Skylights. Lowry, who has lived in Mooresville since his parents moved to the town from Indianapolis, describes himself as "just one of the LinEl team." He started the firm in Mooresville 13 years ago, and today, LinEl employs about 150 people in an 80,000-square-foot facility on Bethel Road near the Mooresville Airport.

"I've been all over the world," Lowry says, "and I tell the kids that I love to get home. I like the four seasons and the people who live here. It's a friendly place to live, and it has a real good work ethic."

LinEl makes skylights and industrial panels for buildings all over the country, and the world. Perhaps the most recognizable LinEl installation to Hoosiers is the paneled pyramid atop the Bank One Tower in downtown Indianapolis. The company...