Winnecke: ‘State of Our City is Strong’
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowEvansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke says business growth and higher education efforts are helping the city build economic momentum. In his annual State of the City address, Winnecke also highlighted infrastructure improvements and new flights out of Evansville Regional Airport.
Text of Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke's State of The City Address
Fellow Rotarians, special guests & citizens of Evansville. Thank you for this annual opportunity to speak about the status of our great city.
As your Mayor, I stand before you……to proudly report…..that the state of our city is strong. It is without a doubt that Evansville is a community that is energized, passionate and engaged.
There are many ways to evaluate any government entity, and two of the most traditional are economic development and financial strength.
Looking at the past 3 years, our city is strong in job creation with over 24-hundred full-time jobs created and retained in a wide range of industries. Our economic development team is unyielding, working deals daily as the city competes with other communities across the country.
Last year, the city was successful in efforts to land the Haier America Research and Development Center. Haier is the world's largest manufacturer of appliances, and chose Evansville for its first U.S. Product Tech Center.
The initial $5 million investment and 50 jobs is also a symbolic victory for our city, which has a storied history in appliance manufacturing.
The fact that so many displaced Whirlpool product engineers STILL live in Evansville was one of the key selling points to Haier.
Mead Johnson Nutritionals is celebrating its 100th year in our city and the multi-million dollar expansion this year of its infant formula production sends a message that Evansville and Mead Johnson will be important partners for years to come.
After a year of courting Fisher Dynamics, our city was selected as the site of its new manufacturing facility to build and assemble front seat components for the automobile industry. The company will hire 169 employees and pay average wages of $19.61 an hour.
Whether it's a start-up like Envolve Engineering, or a major expansion at Berry Plastics, the Growth Alliance and Economic Development Coalition of Southwest Indiana continue to produce solid results.
In addition, companies like Escalade Sports and Boots Manufacturing have also expanded by reinvesting in their companies.
Along the economic development lines, I frequently hear about the need for additional air service out of Evansville. I'd like to give a shout out to Airport Manager Doug Joest and Marketing Director Diana Page for their efforts in answering that need.
Last fall, U-S Airways began three daily flights to Charlotte. From Charlotte, U-S Airways flies to 120 destinations.
And just two weeks ago, we announced that United Airlines is coming to Evansville this June, adding three daily flights to Chicago. The United Airlines addition creates 79 new destinations for Evansville fliers through O'Hare.
These new travel options will greatly enhance our job attraction and retention efforts, while also offering many new options for vacation goers. The estimated annual economic impact of these additions is in the millions of dollars.
The city's financial situation is another standard measurement to review.
There is no doubt that property tax caps have forced local governments across the state to examine their efficiency and spending, and Evansville is no different.
We live within the budgets approved by the Common Council. In fact, we spent approximately $5 million less than budgeted last year.
Even with declines in revenue as a result of the tax caps, city government continues to operate, make smart reductions when needed, all while making strategic investments in city services and infrastructure and delivering the kind of city government that sets Evansville apart.
Following the city's extensive conversion of its accounting software system, Evansville has achieved consecutive clean audit opinions from the State Board of Accounts, reaffirming confidence in our financial management. Further evidence that our city is fiscally strong comes straight from the opinions of Standard & Poor's and Moody's, both of which have reaffirmed our bond ratings.
The agencies say we have “adequate to good cash reserves,” and “a large and diverse employment and income tax base,” which are reasons why the city has the capacity to take on major projects. Whether it is commercial and retail growth, or the renewed interest in the urban core, our city is strong with development.
At the State of Real Estate a couple weeks ago, it was reassuring to hear of expansions throughout the city, coupled with the prediction of growth in all commercial sectors in 2015.
Our urban core has the benefit of having a Tax Increment Financing District, also known as a TIF. The public financing method does not increase property taxes, but rather reallocates funds from property taxes to encourage investment within the district.
The downtown TIF has enabled the city to take on projects such as the convention hotel and medical school campus, which is why we are pursuing a new downtown master plan, the city's first since 2001.
We believe it is our duty to serve, to the best of our ability, not only the day to day demands of operations and logistics of the city of Evansville, but to preserve our heritage and look to the future, to ensure our children and grandchildren can be proud of their city.
A downtown that is vibrant, that welcomes business and commerce and provides local culture, education and entertainment, is at the very core for creating real growth that can be sustained over time.
To that end, this administration is working tirelessly to ensure our downtown continues to build on its vibrancy. The downtown hotel and the medical school campus are at the heart of our strategic planning.
The hotel, particularly, has been met with challenges involving geotechnical conditions, extended community discussion over funding and overall cost associated with construction. However, we are committed to the process and have continually fought to move this project forward, to find alternative ways to accomplish our goals for downtown.
There are few American cities of our size, which do not have a convention hotel in their downtown. This administration understands the importance of delivering such an asset to this great City and we will not relent in efforts to get it done.
When the Indiana University Board of Trustees discussed the location of the new medical school campus, it was clear that our city enjoys a positive reputation from all over the state.
This unique project is designed to address a statewide need… access to, and improving the quality of healthcare in Indiana. When the legislative sessions ends in late April, the final size of the project will be determined with the approval of a new state budget. In my personal conversations with Governor Pence and leaders in both chambers, it is clear that this project enjoys wide support.
Last week, Congressman Larry Bucshon and I had meetings with leadership in both the House and Senate making our case that the final state budget includes not only the graduate medical educational component, but also the University of Southern Indiana and Ivy Tech pieces as well. It is clear that legislators agree this project an important step in creating a statewide solution to build a pipeline of healthcare professionals ready to live and work in Indiana – and of course, we want them to stay in Evansville once they complete their degrees.
This project is turning heads in a positive way all over Indiana thanks to its partnerships. On one hand, you have Indiana University, the University of Southern Indiana, the University of Evansville and Ivy Tech working together on the campus front.