Southern Indiana update: the past year's top business news.

• Author: Odendahl, Marilyn
• Position: Regional Report: South

The counties nestled among the rolling hills of Southern Indiana comprise a mosaic of different capabilities, needs, resources and priorities. Consequently, some communities are thriving with multimillion dollar investments while neighboring towns just across county lines have neither the room nor the infrastructure to support new industry.

However, businesses are looking increasingly at small towns for new locations to build manufacturing plants. Plenty of space to expand, a trainable and hard-working labor force, coupled with lower property taxes, less traffic congestion and even some annual festivals make Southern Indiana towns very attractive to city-weary companies.

During the past year, many of the communities in the southern region have successfully weathered the national economic recession. Furthermore, some of the communities have been able to build a foundation that ensures continued growth and opportunities.

HARRISON COUNTY

Despite a nationwide slump in the automotive market, Harrison County's two automotive industries are increasing production and hiring more employees. A.O. Smith Automotive Products Co., which assembles frames for the Ford Explorer, has undergone a multimillion dollar expansion and now has nearly 200 employees. Lobdell-Emery Manufacturing Co. does metal stamping for the Ford Ranger, which like the Ford Explorer, has remained a popular item among truck buyers.

Aside from the automotive element of the county's economy, the woodworking element also is flourishing. Keller Manufacturing, the county's largest employer with 400 workers, has been in Harrison County for 100 years and has recorded its most productive years in the past five years.

Within the past year, the county's unemployment has risen from 4.9 percent to 6.1 percent. In the area of employment, Harrison County is far from being self-sufficient and is therefore very vulnerable to the economic fluctuations of other areas. In fact, about 7,500 of the area's estimated 15,000 workers labor outside county lines.

Darrell Voelker, executive director of the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce, doesn't expect his county to ever become completely self-supporting, primarily because the business district is not large enough to house all the necessary services. Also, many residents are reluctant to have new industry settle in the county because they fear it will detract from the area's natural beauty.

"There's a lot of trees and cows between here and Louisville and...