Windfall for water

After an extensive application process, Cambridge City has received a $2.8 million grant to increase water capacity and support regional industrial growth at Wayne County’s Gateway Industrial Park. 

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo made the announcement Sept. 10. 

The Economic Development Administration, which is an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, is providing the grant. 

The new water tower is intended to support business expansion and job creation at the industrial park at Indiana 1 and Interstate 70. 

The project is expected to create 100 jobs, retain 77 jobs and generate $10 million in private investment, according to grantee estimates.

Several local groups collaborated on the application in recent months, including Cambridge City’s town government, Gateway Industrial Park tenants, Economic Development Corp. of Wayne County, Wayne County government, Eastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission and Cambridge City’s engineering firm, Indianapolis-based Wessler Engineering. 

Valerie Shaffer, EDC president, said staff were elated when they learned Cambridge City won the grant. 

“This was a tremendous collaboration between the Town of Cambridge City, Wayne County Government, the EDC, Wessler Engineering, and our grant writers at the Southern Indiana Regional Plan Commission (SIRPC) who did the heavy lifting on the grant application,” Shaffer said. “We are grateful to the team at SIRPC who helped a community not in their region by lending their expertise in EDA grant writing. This is a great example of the payoff resulting from collaboration and great communication.” 

Shaffer said the team knew how important the grant would be for facilitating the industrial park’s additional growth and supporting its existing tenants, Dot Foods, SugarCreek and Taconic Biosciences, which all assisted with the grant application by writing letters of support.

Jim McLane, Cambridge City’s town council president, said the application process began in February. After the initial application was submitted, those involved followed up with several requests from the EDA for additional information. 

Cambridge City officials have been working for several years to improve the separate water infrastructure systems for the town and industrial park. The industrial water park project is in Phase 2A.  

“This is a great opportunity for Cambridge City to finish that project,” McLane said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

EDA’s contribution will be matched with $2.8 million in local funds. Town officials are finalizing financing for the remaining portion. 

McLane said the industrial park’s current water customers are aware that a rate study will be conducted and might result in an increase to their bills. However, they realize the added water capacity could help with their own growth, and could attract other tenants to join the park. 

McLane emphasized that residents and businesses using the town’s water system won’t see higher bills because of the industrial park project. 

Construction is expected to cost $5,643,000, plus another $700,000 in soft costs that aren’t eligible for the federal match. 

The grant will help build a water tower with a 1-million-gallon capacity on a 1-acre tract south of SugarCreek Packing. Wayne County owns the land and agreed to a purchase agreement with the town to support the project. 

Because Cambridge City is supplying the water, EDA wanted the tower to be on town land and use town equipment rather than involve a mixture of government entities. 

Raimondo said the federal Investing in America agenda “is ensuring that all communities have the resources and opportunities they need to compete and thrive in today’s economy.” 

“This EDA investment will enable Cambridge City and all of Wayne County to promote local business and job growth and make the regional economy more resilient,” Raimondo said. 

EDA officials said the agency is proud to partner with local communities to support place-based economic growth, and that the project will support business growth in Southeastern Indiana and enable the region to meet the growing domestic and global demands for goods produced in Wayne County.

This project is funded under the Assistance to Coal Communities initiative. EDA awards funds on a competitive basis to assist communities severely impacted by the declining use of coal. ACC projects support economic diversification, job creation, capital investment, workforce development and re-employment opportunities.