Top business stories: Southeast Indiana update.

• Author: Price, Larry
• Position: Southeast Indiana

Southeastern Indiana had such a good economic year in 1994 that some counties are reporting signs of the unfortunate problem that comes with prosperity: labor shortages.

"That's a good problem to have," says Robert Bostic, executive director of the Greensburg Area Chamber of Commerce in Decatur County, where signs of a worker shortage are beginning to show. He says the Greensburg Commerce Park continued to be a focal point of economic development in a prosperous year. "We had a very strong year economically," he says. An additional 32 acres of the park were sold - five to a tool-and-die company and the rest to the Decatur Commerce Group, which in turn has sold plots of the land to new businesses.

"They are offering smaller lots to smaller businesses," he says. The county also saw a long-needed expansion in 1994 in housing. "We have reason to believe that we'll have continued growth."

Union County, a quiet farming community, continued to benefit from the prosperity of nearby counties, says Bonnie Ross-Keasling, former executive director of the Union County Development Corp. The unemployment rate remained low in 1994 and the county continued to draw in dollars from tourism at Whitewater State Park.

Lois Clark, executive secretary of the Brookville-Franklin County Chamber of Commerce, says the year was marked by expansions at existing businesses, including J&J Packaging, which added 50 workers. Such companies as Sperry Rubber & Plastics and Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp. all logged strong years in an improved regional economy.

Pat Blair, executive director of the Rush County Industrial Development Corp., says the county had the most successful year that it's had in recent memory. "All of our major industries have expanded in labor force. I would guess over 500 total new jobs in the county." Most of the new jobs came from expansions at existing companies. A formerly vacant furniture factory, revamped into a manufacturing mall, is nearly 75 percent full.

Fayette County, which only a few short years ago suffered from one of the highest unemployment rates in the state, also prospered in 1994. Scott Bevington of the Fayette County Industrial Development Corp. says the successful sale of a 1.2 million-square-foot former Frigidaire plant to an Ohio developer was one of the biggest stories of the year. The Connersville Industrial Center has three new tenants already, including H&W Supply Co., a supplier for Ford.

Indiana University East, based in...