Q&A with Marshall County Economic Development Corp. CEO Greg Hildebrand
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The Marshall County Economic Development Corp. serves as the primary economic development organization for Marshall County, Indiana.
CEO Greg Hildebrand currently leads the mission to foster economic growth through business retention, expansion and attraction initiatives that enhance the region’s quality of life and economic vitality.
Inside INdiana Business spoke with Hildebrand about recent economic wins, ongoing workforce challenges, industry trends and how the county is positioning itself for long-term success.
So far, what are some of the biggest economic developments wins in Marshall County for 2025?
For 2025, probably the biggest news is that we’ve secured two grants. One is for site development. We’re working with the city of Plymouth on an engineering study to bring city utilities to some part of the area that’s already zoned industrial.
The other one is a Collaborative Communities Grant for us to offer business courses for creatives. It’s an eight week program that creatives, small business people can take to increase their business acumen. A lot of these creatives either take for granted or don’t realize they’re a small business. They are entrepreneurs, and there are resources available to them. We want to make that known; we want to help foster that. The curriculum is under consideration right now, so look for that announcement. We’re working with the Indiana Small Business Development Authority, Marshall County Economic Development and Heartland Gallery.
That’s interesting. How creative is Marshall County?
We have a very vibrant creative community. There are a lot of creatives in the county that do different things. Not only two dimensional art, but also writers, musicians and potters. Here in Plymouth, we have Heartland Gallery. They’re a regional hub. But Bremen also has a community art center over there, and they are busy. So there is quite a bit of creative talent in the area. Moon Tree Studios out at Ancilla College, The Rees Theater and Wild Rose Moon also fosters that type of work. So quite a community. We’re excited about all the arts and entertainment that’s coming to the area.
What are the top three industries driving economic growth within the county?
We have a very diverse manufacturing base and that’s one of the things we really pride ourselves on. Our largest employer is South Wire in Bremen. They make wire for all sorts of uses. We also have a couple other wire manufacturers in the county. We have food manufacturers. We have Hershey’s, salted snacks, pretzels and some noodles. Zentis makes the fruit that goes into yogurt. They also make the caramel that Starbucks uses in all their caramel drinks. That caramel was made here in Plymouth, Indiana.
We have orthopedics manufacturing here. Spine Tech does spinal rods and screws. So we really do have a wide variety of manufacturing. As far as employers, South Wire is our number one. Culver Military Academy is a large employer for us. School districts are also big employers.
Hildebrand talks about the diversity of industry within Marshall County
Are there any new industries that the county is looking to attract in the next few years?
We’re always looking. We have one that’s building right now. They are a die cast manufacturer. We are constantly looking and doing attraction. Sequel down in Argos; they’re a wire manufacturer. They are doing a large expansion and some hiring. South Wire continues to expand all the time. Ameri-Can Engineering recently opened up a big expansion. AK Industries is another one that recently expanded. All Points Machine and Tool, that’s a woman-owned enterprise. They just won a Manufacturing Readiness Grant this past year. They’re getting some automated equipment in there to expand. So we’re pretty proud of that.
How are you working with businesses to attract and retain talent within the county?
That is the $64,000 question, as they call it. Talent attraction centers on quality of life initiatives. We work with the other partners here in the county helping produce housing that we can attract people into and also that quality of life aspect—making sure that we have broadband throughout the county, making sure our communities are as walkable as possible, making sure our schools stay current. A lot goes into quality of life initiatives. Working with Heartland Gallery and the creatives, that’s another way to improve that quality of life.
With talent attraction comes the need for more housing. How is the county addressing this?
Housing is another big push in the county. Plymouth has a couple housing projects going on downtown—a rehabilitation of an older building and the other one is new construction of some town homes. Culver has about 300 units coming on. It’s such a small community, so 300 units is a big number. Bremen and Bourbon are both in the early stages of developing housing. Bremen won a READI 2.0 grant that’s around housing. They’ve built some homes down in Argos and they continue to build with the help of the community. We’re excited about all that because we really need that housing.
Are there other companies that are also adopting new technology within the county?
Yes, all the time. I was talking to somebody over at Nisco [in Bremen] recently about how they were the first to adopt robotics in production over here. Now, I’ve lost track of how many companies have robots on their floor. We actually have a fiberglass tub enclosure manufacturer that has robotic technology, which is kind of unique. That typically isn’t a high-tech industry, but they’ve incorporated that. Traditionally, we’ve had a low unemployment rate here. It’s always just somewhat below the state. So our workforce is always under pressure; they’re always looking for additional workers.
One of the ways to make companies more efficient, more productive, is through the adoption of this technology. We’re seeing more and more of that all the time. What they also are learning is that it doesn’t necessarily replace headcount. You become so much more efficient and productive, that you need individuals in other areas of the company.
How have the statewide economic development grants impacted Marshall County?
We’ve taken advantage of that as well as we could have. There’s a lot we are catching up to. We’re working on doing some forward planning. We’re doing a better job of getting organized. The Marshall County Career Innovation Center was a big READI 1.0 recipient. It is a CTE program for high school, but the facility also offers adult education and workforce development. Sometimes that gets lost. There’s a lot of programs for adults.
How has regional collaboration impacted the growth within the county?
It’s been a big help. When we do attraction initiatives, we take advantage of being part of a very attractive region. Our region is very manufacturing heavy. It’s got a lot of quality of life amenities that attract people, so we are integrated into that. I sit on the board of the [South Bend-Elkhart] Regional Partnership, and I work with them on a lot of their entrepreneurial programming. We can take advantage of the economies of scale, we have more investors. Trying to build that from the ground up here in Marshall County would be cumbersome and probably not as effective as just getting plugged into the regional environment that they’ve already nurtured.
What’s the long term vision for Marshall County’s economic growth through 2030?
Well, we want to continue to attract diverse industries. We also want the industry we have to grow and prosper. We’re working very hard at attracting talent. Our population has been stagnant; we’ve been at about that 46,000 number for quite some time. In order for us to grow, we really need to get that number to grow. Housing will be a part of that but also quality of life initiatives. Being stagnant is not an option. You’re either growing or dying.
Are there any plans to bring any data centers to Marshall County?
Right now we have moratoriums here in the county against solar, battery, data centers and carbon sequestration. That hurts us. We could benefit from those. We champion the fact that we are sitting at the intersection of U.S. 30 and 31. We’re sitting at the intersection of two electrical grids. Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and PJM both are in this county. There’s transmission lines crisscrossing our county and there’s excess capacity on those lines; we need to be able to take advantage of that. If there’s a way that we can get those projects located here in Marshall County, that would be a big boost to the local economy. Right now, we have some pushback. St. Joseph and Elkhart counties have just taken advantage of these technologies and we really have been left out. We’ve got the infrastructure and we could accommodate some of that growth. It’s just that we haven’t had the grassroots support to do it. Conservatively speaking, we’ve missed out on millions of dollars in economic development.