The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1368373
D-8 Wednesday, May 5, 2021 The Press-Dispatch EAST GIBSON Submit East Gibson news items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: egnews@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg EAST GIBSON The Press-Dispatch 812-354-8500 | www.pressdispatch.net *By enrolling in the Birthday Club, you agree to have your name, town and birth- day, or the person's name and town and birthday of whom you are enrolling, printed in e Press-Dispatch on the week in which the birthday occurs. Joining is easy! Visit pressdispatch.net/birthday or send your full name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number and birthdate to birthdayclub@pressdispatch.net.* Each week, a list of birthdays will be published in the paper! You could win a FREE PRIZE from area businesses and a three-month subscription to e Press-Dispatch. MUST RE-ENROLL EVERY YEAR! Join the One WINNER is drawn at the end of each month SUBSCRIBE TODAY! We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500 Towns receive $250K in relief grants By Janice Barniak Princeton, Oakland City, Haub- stadt, Fort Branch and, more gen- erally, Gibson County have re- ceived COVID-19 Response Pro- gram grants of $250,000 for small businesses and applications are open until May 5. The grants are part of the American Rescue Plan for 2021. Steve Marchand, who assist- ed the county in applying for the grant, said the award is meant to offset the effects of COVID, and will require a short online appli- cation that will factor in how ma- ny jobs the grant would be help- ing retain. "It's really not burdensome," Marchand said, but added that the wages cannot be under-the-table cash wages. Those receiving earlier grants that were not Phase 1 or Phase 2 of this grant program can still ap- ply for the money, he added, but they can only be awarded within one phase three area, (not both through the city of Fort Branch and also the county, for example). Motion do want to receive it, adopt the ordinance The business must: •Be a legal business, which can include self-employed individuals. •Be micro-businesses or sole proprietors, and receive a W-2 or 1099, or other form of schedule ap- proved by the IRS. No cash wages will be considered. •Meet the definition of a small business. •Demonstrate the direct cor- relation of their business disrup- tion due to COVID-19. •Be within the Gibson Coun- ty corporate boundaries, or with- in two miles of the boundaries of Fort Branch, Oakland City, Haub- stadt or Princeton. Businesses interested in apply- ing will need to go to the online ap- plication at Southwestindiana.org/ phase3/. Email at cdteam@evvre- gion.com with questions. The Town Board of Fort Branch voted to allow Clerk Treasurer Stacy Elpers, who applied for the grant, accept the funds in the April 21 meeting. By Janice Barniak Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana announced April 28 an $ 803 million investment and anoth- er 1,400 new jobs in a high-tech part- nership with luxury-brand Lexus. "These are designed with the ac- tive Gen Y family in mind," said TM- MI President Leah Curry. The new three-row SUVs will have seating for eight, semi-automated driving system, a digital key accessi- ble by smartphone and remote park- ing. They will also bring Toyota clos- er to a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 by filling out a portfolio of hy- brid, plug-in electric and hydrogen fuel cells, Curry said. The facility will see minimal new construction, mostly retooling of the current factory. "This is a testament to the south- west Indiana region and to our amaz- ing workforce here," Curry said. Earlier this year, the company an- nounced the Sequoia manufacturing would move to Texas, but Highland- er and Sienna production will contin- ue as Toyota adds the two new SUV lines. The announcement comes at a time when, despite coming out of a pandemic, Gibson County has seen low unemployment compared to sur- rounding counties, in a state that has low unemployment compared to its neighbors. Gibson County's 3.4 percent un- employment rate is lower than Posey's 3.6, Knox's 3.8, Warrick's 3.7 and Vanderburgh's 4.8 percent unemployment, according to the Department of Workforce Develop- ment's non-seasonally adjusted num- bers for March. (As April just ended, we have yet to see those numbers). Indiana is also lower than all neighboring states, including Mich- igan, Ohio, Kentucky, and, in stark- est contrast, Illinois, where unem- ployment tops seven percent, ac- cording to the Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics. Gibson County has drawn heavily from outside the county to fill TM- MI's current openings. "We've been very creative about filling our jobs," Curry said, giving the 4T Academy, which trains high school students in advanced manu- facturing, as an example. "I also want females to know they have great careers here. Look at me, I never thought I would be the presi- dent of Toyota Indiana," Curry, who is originally from Haubstadt, said. "I started as a maintenance skilled team leader working on robots and programming equipment. I want fe- males to know there is so much here for their careers." She pointed to amenities, like day- care and gyms, as being a way TM- MI provides for employees. "We are eternally grateful," Gov. Eric Holcomb said during the an- nouncement. "I can't say thank you enough on behalf of the whole state of Indiana." He said that when Toyo- ta goes to work, it has enough people to be its own city within the county. "When you say, 'let's go places, we're smart enough to pile in.'" Holcomb added because of TM- MI, Indiana is the single-largest Jap- anese investment state in the U.S. "It doesn't get any better than this," Holcomb said. "They're rede- fining the future of mobility." Mayor Greg Wright said that when the topic of Princeton and TMMI come up, other counties are envious, with the town coming up from popcorn produc- ers to dominate auto manufacturing. "Our growth in Gibson County has been painfully slow. Honestly, 25 years ago, we were not ready for Toyota to come here," he said, and said the city is still working to at- tract the workforce necessary, from infrastructure improvements, to the quality of life improvements like the YMCA. He said no one would have believed 25 years ago, when Toyota employed 1,000 people, that 25 years later, it would employ nearly 9,000 — more than the City of Princeton, and produce six million vehicles. "I just wanted to say today we're celebrating a milestone...thank you for making our county the envy of Indiana," Wright said. TMMI ANNOUNCES 1,400 NEW JOBS BY THE NUMBERS $803 MILLION investment 1,400 new jobs in area 2 new three-row SUVs 25 YEARS in Princeton Gov. Eric Holcomb discusses the growth of Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana April 28 at the Toyota Experience Center. County, Haubstadt, Princeton receive nearly $1.2M in road funding By Janice Barniak Gibson County received several awards in the most recent round of Community Crossings grants, in- cluding Princeton at $ 96,206, Gib- son County at $1 million and Haub- stadt at $101,720. "Gibson County is honored to receive $1,000,000 from the Indi- ana Departments of Transporta- tion Community Crossings Grant. Our Gibson County community will move forward with projects utiliz- ing these funds this coming fiscal year. It's a great day for Gibson County roadway improvements," said Commissioner Warren Fleet- wood. Gibson County Engineer Matt Holden said the county knew it was very competitive process. "We greatly appreciate INDOT's Community Crossings and their lo- cal and state contributions to keep- ing roads maintained and safe," said Holden. Gov. Eric Holcomb announced 218 Indiana cities, towns and coun- ties received a combined $100.2 million in state matching funds for local road projects through Com- munity Crossings, a component of the Governor's Next Level Roads program. "Superior transportation infra- structure – from interstates to lo- cal roads and everything connect- ing in between – make our com- munities safer, attractive places to do business and create jobs," Hol- comb said. "Thriving communities, in turn, provide exceptional places for Hoosiers to call home and raise families. With that in mind, I'm so pleased to invest and partner with local leaders to deliver on high-pri- ority projects that keep Indiana moving forward." The Community Crossings initia- tive has provided more than $ 931 million in state-matching funds for local construction projects since 2016. Communities submitted ap- plications for funding during a high- ly competitive call for projects held in January. Applications were evalu- ated based on need and current con- ditions, and impacts to safety and economic development. Funding for Community Crossings comes from the state's local road and bridge matching grant fund. "Community Crossings is a ma- jor asset to Indiana cities, towns and counties as they build and mod- ernize local roads and bridges," IN- DOT Commissioner Joe McGuin- ness said. "The state's funding part- nership allows local partners to tackle larger scale projects more quickly than would otherwise be possible, maximize their resourc- es to complete more projects and achieve the best possible value for Hoosiers." To qualify for funding, local gov- ernments must provide local match- ing funds, 50 percent for larg- er communities or 25 percent for smaller communities, from a fund- ing source approved for road and bridge construction. They must al- so submit an INDOT-approved as- set management plan for maintain- ing existing roads and bridges. State law requires annually that 50 percent of the available matching funds be awarded to communities within counties with a population of 50,000 or fewer. State lawmak- ers identified long-term funding for Community Crossings as part of House Enrolled Act 1002, passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Holcomb in April 2017. Toyota Motor Manufactur- ing of Indiana President Le- ah Curry discusses a part- nership with Lexus at the an- nouncement of 1,400 new jobs and an investment of $803 million last week.