“We know that responsible economic development benefits the county as a whole and our members through increased electric load, job creation, community investment, and enhanced quality of life.”
Dave Lewallen
Marshall County REMC CEO
A soaring economic development partnership is focused on getting new businesses to take flight near the Plymouth Municipal Airport.
Marshall County REMC and Wabash Valley Power Alliance awarded two $10,000 Site Readiness Grants to the Marshall County Economic Development Corp. The grants will be used for engineering site studies to determine needs to provide water and sewer service to two Marshall County locations, including a site near the Plymouth Municipal Airport.
“It used to have quite a bit of commercial traffic out of it in its heyday in the 1970s, but it has slowed up,” said Greg Hildebrand, president and CEO of the Marshall County EDC. “In the last handful of years there’s been increased traffic through a few different flight schools.”
A light plane in a hangar. Marshall County REMC and Wabash Valley Power awarded a $10,000 Site Readiness Grant to the Marshall County Economic Development Corp. for an engineering site study to determine utility service needs to construct a new building for business growth near the Plymouth Municipal Airport.
City and airport officials hope to expand the runway to serve more commercial aircraft, Hildebrand said. Marshall County REMC currently provides electric service near the airport; the engineering study would determine how to provide water and sewer utilities for new structures.
“We are looking at constructing a building that will be attractive to the aeronautical industry,” Hildebrand said. “The major benefit for a business is the unfettered access to the airport, which we’d really like to see grow.”
Last year, Marshall County REMC and Wabash Valley Power awarded the first Site Readiness Grant for an engineering study to extend water and sewer utilities to a 57-acre industrial park just outside Plymouth. The grant covered most of the $15,000 engineering study cost; the city of Plymouth paid the difference.
“Our grant program provides our member electric cooperatives and their communities with unique funding to address local needs,” said Jonathan Faris, economic development manager for Wabash Valley Power. “The Site Readiness Grant can address a critical step needed to prepare locations for businesses to grow and invest in the community.”
Local economic developers already have landed interest from potential tenants interested in a location near the Plymouth airport, and they expect to gain more interest once construction begins.
“We know that responsible economic development benefits the county as a whole and our members through increased electric load, job creation, community investment, and enhanced quality of life,” Marshall County REMC CEO Dave Lewallen said. “We have a great working relationship with the Marshall County EDC, and we look forward to the future of developing these sites and what it can mean for our community.”