Mayor: Browning Chapman HQ a Sign of Westfield’s Growth

Westfield Mayor Andy Cook (file photo)

The mayor of Westfield says Tuesday’s announcement that Indianapolis-based Browning Chapman LLC is relocating its headquarters to Westfield is another sign of the Hamilton County city’s continued growth. The company is moving to the Northpoint Business Park just off U.S. 31 and Andy Cook says attracting businesses involved in the advanced manufacturing sector is part of a concerted effort to build on the city’s commercial success. 

In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Cook said any city is always looking to grow its commercial tax base.

"Northpoint gives us an opportunity to offer businesses an employment base, primarily," said Cook. "Westfield, with its amenities of the sports and the trails, our high-quality schools, our huge asset is the ability to attract a good quality employees, not only the research and development type of jobs, but more of the blue collar employee that can come primarily from the areas north of the Indianapolis metro area. Opening up the 31 corridor, which is really just now taking place, is just an absolute prime opportunity for Westfield."

Cook says the city’s initial plan to expand its tax base was with the industry of hospitality built around Grand Park Sports Complex. The second phase is part of an effort to further capitalize on the success of Grand Park with the "business of sports" featuring sports-oriented businesses. He says going for more advanced manufacturing companies is the third phase of the effort.

The mayor adds it will be important to leverage an announcement like Browning Chapman’s relocation to continue to attract businesses to Westfield. He says the city has already made utilities fully available in the Northpoint area and more improvements are coming.

"I think, especially right now, the land is relatively inexpensive. Just like we found, however, around Grand Park, with success comes rising land values so right now, with the amenities we have to offer, there’s some rather affordable land available. As the Northpoint amenities develop, that is the roadways we’ll be constructing beginning next year, it’ll open up that area even more." 

Browning Chapman plans to invest $4 million to build its new, 67,000-square-foot headquarters, with construction beginning later this summer and slated for completion in the spring. The project is expected to create up to 100 jobs.