‘Family Sports Mecca’ Diversifying

The Indianapolis Colts are returning to Westfield’s Grand Park Sports Campus this week for the team’s first training camp with fans since 2019. Westfield Mayor Andy Cook says it will provide another economic boost for what he describes as a family sports mecca. But Cook says the city’s economy is diversifying with developments like Abbott Labs’ new $37 million manufacturing plant that is expected to employ 450 over three years.

Cook says Westfield’s location is feeding the growth. “We’re on the north edge of the metroplex and we have the git from the state of Indiana of the U.S. 31 freeway that continues to march north to Kokomo and that allows us to diversify our entire employer base,” said Cook.

The fourth-term mayor talked about the city’s continued growth on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.

Cook says the city has succeeded in creating a sports tourism industry that is driving new development, from hotels and restaurants to destinations like West Fork Whiskey’s $10 million agritourism attraction, which breaks ground this week.

Westfield officials estimate Grand Park is attracting approximately 2 million visits annually.

Cook says residential development also continues to boom in the city, with more than 1,200 building permits issued so far in 2021. “That tells me that people do want to live in Westfield,” said Cook.