Ok, we got Nestle

Worked called and I have been on hiatus.

The Herald-Bulletin has a piece on the costs for the infrastructure costs. It appears that Anderson will be adding infrastructure that can be used for businesses other than Nestle.

John Ketzenberger had a column last week (I was reading but not doing much writing) on the I-69 corridor.

It wasn't too many years ago that there wasn't much more than corn and soybean fields along I-69 between here and Fort Wayne. Even the towns seemed to huddle a few miles off the highway.

That's not true anymore. Nestle's decision this week to spend $359 million on a new distribution center in Anderson is just the latest in a string of projects bringing new life along the so-called NAFTA highway.
"A lot has happened along that corridor," said Larry Gigerich, managing director of Ginovus, a company that works with manufacturers and distributors on site selection and economic development incentives.
"We're going to see a tremendous amount of growth there and along the I-70 corridor east of Indianapolis over the next five years," Gigerich added.
It's about time.
"Central Indiana is not an island, especially when it comes to transportation, distribution and logistics," said Mark Miles, CEO of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.
More development in areas between key population centers -- Indianapolis to Fort Wayne, for instance -- will have to occur if the state is going to capitalize on its primary asset: location. Miles is driving that corridor today to work on economic development partnerships that may help fill the gaps.
This is important because there are more than $10-an-hour jobs in the distribution centers being developed. A lot of engineers are getting hired. "The average salary is $72,000," said Matt Will, directory of graduate business programs at the University of Indianapolis.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060713/COLUMNISTS21/607130411/1104

The wife asked me if I thought Nestle would turn the town around. I replied, thinking of the days of GM, told her I did not think so. I must admit I winced at that comparison. Relying on GM was no better for Anderson than relying on Manufacturing has been for the rest of the state. Yet, the comparison in gross numbers of employees is only part of the story. Nestle might be the turning point for how Anderson thinks of itself - as only a GM town - and that will be a very good thing.