Southeastern Indiana update.

• Author: Price, Larry
• Position: Regional Report: Southeast

"I think the biggest news has been the expansion and retention," says Robert Bostic, executive director of the Greensburg Area Chamber of Commerce in Decatur County.

In 1986, the Decatur chamber bought land on the edge of town and started the Decatur County Commerce Park. Today, the former cornfield is home for about 2,000 jobs, including some at five foreign-owned companies. The growth in the park and expansion in older businesses, such as Delta Faucet, have kept Decatur County's economy stable with slow growth--a description used by economic-development officials to describe almost every county in the region for the past year.

Ted Spurlock, president of the Ripley County Chamber of Commerce in Versailles, also believes the region's economy is on the upswing. The county is home to Hillenbrand Industries and subsidiaries including Batesville Casket Co., the nation's top casket producer. Ripley will hire a full-time economic-development director this year to focus on helping existing industry as well as search for new ones.

Union County, a quiet farming area, continues to depend on agriculture and tourism drawn by swimming, boating, camping and places like Whitewater State Park.

Lois Clark, executive secretary of the Brookville-Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, says the county of about 20,000 saw stability but little growth in 1993. Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., which employs 141, was one of the more aggressive in growth last year, she says. Other companies added shifts and a few jobs during the year.

Dan Drexler, executive director of the Rush County Economic Development Corp., also uses the word "stable" when describing 1993. He and Rushville Mayor John McCane say the highlight was the sale of an old factory site--the former Schnadig Furniture Co.--to Jordan Manufacturing of Monticello. The new owners paid the city $100,000 for the building and will eventually turn part of the 360,000-square-foot space into a business incubator.

INTAT Precision, a company that makes brake parts, and Fujitsu Ten Corp.-America, maker of audio systems for the Toyota market, both added employees. Trane Co., the anchor of the county industrial park, moved a production line from Canada to Rushville.

Fayette County, which has suffered higher unemployment than many of its southern neighbors, also is taking aggressive steps to help existing industry grow. The county sold land in its new industrial park. Ground was broken in the fall for a new warehouse for...