New Castle.

• Author: HOLDEN, RICHARD
• Position: Brief Article

The good people of New Castle like to think that Ross Lockridge Jr. knew something when he set his Civil War-era novel Raintree County in real-life Henry County, Indiana. According to Lockridge lore, Johnny Appleseed planted the seed of a magical golden raintree somewhere in Henry County, and whoever found the tree would find the secret of life's happiness.

While no one claims to have discovered Appleseed's raintree, the New Castle-Henry County Chamber of Commerce believes everyone will find what he or she is looking for right here.

"It's just a legend, a theme," says chamber president Jason P. Loveless, "but it's based on the fact that we have a lot to offer." With that, Loveless slips into a litany of New Castle's attributes: Located just north of Interstate 70 with proximity to other major interstates, great schools, a great hospital, an airport, a skilled workforce, good infrastructure, low taxes, and so on.

New Castle has long known the satisfaction of economic stability and steady, manageable growth. When finally certified, the 2000 Census should show the town's population bumping past 21,000, up 2,300 from a decade ago. Unemployment is about 4 percent.

Chrysler must have found what it was seeking when it established a facility in New Castle in 1925. Seventy-six years later Chrysler, now DaimlerChrysler, is still in New Castle and demonstrating its contentment by launching a $77 million expansion to its automotive suspension and steering component operation.

DaimlerChrysler is New Castle's largest employer, with 1,720 employees. The second-largest employer will open in November: a $130 million, 1,800-bed state prison that will house elderly and infirm inmates. Built two miles north of town on the grounds of a former state hospital, the Department of Corrections' facility will employ an estimated 700.

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