Hiring boost is good omen for Boone County economy
Boone County appears poised for rebound
By Robert Annis, The Indianapolis Star online
Posted: October 8, 2009
Two major Boone County employers will begin hiring soon, officials say, with more good news possibly on the horizon.
Several businesses are likely to add jobs within the next year, including 1,800 temporary jobs at Amazon.com's distribution center in Duke's Anson development. Dax Norton, Boone County Economic Development Corporation executive director, said the employees would be needed October through December this year for the holiday shopping season.
The distribution center has about 400 permanent employees and likely will ramp up to 1,200 permanent full-time employees by 2012. Amazon.com officials didn't return a phone call seeking comment.
Meanwhile, Medco will hire more than 500 pharmacists, technicians and other employees by late 2010 as the automated pharmacy goes into production mode next year, according to company spokeswoman Ann Smith. Norton said the average annual wage would be more than $85,000.
Norton said Boone County has weathered the recession better than many of its neighbors.
"Housing starts and sales have been steady (and) unemployment's dropping," Norton said. "Several businesses are discussing expanding their current sites. . . . We've nearly run out of existing building inventory, but we've got plenty of shovel-ready land ready to be developed."
Norton refused to name the businesses, citing the confidential nature of the talks.
The state Department of Workforce Development reports the percentage of unemployed residents dropped from 7.8 percent in July to 7 percent in August. About 1,946 county residents needed a job in August, compared with 2,178 in July.
According to a report by real estate company Landrigan & Company, the number of homes sold and the average sale price were down only slightly from a year ago. Sixty-two homes sold in August 2009 for an average of $231,000 compared with 69 homes sold in August 2008 at an average cost of $233,000.
Norton suggested the county is primed for a quick recovery if the recession ends in the second quarter of 2010 as expected, with the expansion of Dow AgroSciences just south of the county line potentially paying huge dividends for Boone County. He hopes more biotech companies and suppliers would be attracted to the area, with Anson being primed for rapid expansion.
"The capital markets really haven't opened up yet, but there's a lot of interest in building there when they do," Norton said. "We've submitted a lot of leads to Duke. The south end of the project's developing nicely with housing and retail coming in now, so there's a lot of good signs."