NEW ALBANY — Political decisions can produce ramifications for the private business sector. Preceding the opening of the Floyd County branch of the YMCA of Southern Indiana in 2008 was a debate among New Albany City Council members over the rational of a public-private partnership.

The council ultimately approved spending $137,000 a year for 16 years for the project, and the YMCA has welcomed so many members the facility is already considering an expansion.

Though he wasn’t in office when the decision was made by the council, Mayor Doug England said city leaders deserve credit for partnering with the YMCA for the benefit of the city.

“The Y is a big anchor downtown,” he said.

Since taking office again in 2008, England has been an outspoken supporter of New Albany’s downtown.

“It makes sense, our downtown has a great future,” he said.

The England administration backed the proposed River View project — a development that could cost up to $53 million and would include retail, residential and office space — before a funding mechanism tied to the effort was approved by the council. He said the condominiums planned for River View are possibly the most important aspect of the development, as he added more people need to live in the downtown business corridor to maintain the city’s recent progress in the area.

“I want new faces and people living downtown who will be going to the Y who will take walks with their families on the Greenway and who will go downtown and eat and drink and go to our theaters,” he said.

River View developer Mainland Properties is requesting the city council approve a bond issue that would allow the group to pay for $12 million of the project with tax-increment financing revenue. While that decision is still likely months away, there are other public policies either being implemented or on the horizon that officials believe will also have a major affect on New Albany’s economic and trade future.

A 2010 market study funded by the New Albany Urban Enterprise Zone showed two of area’s top population segments are on the lower end of the income scale. Home ownership rates are low among those segments, which is why officials have touted the importance of the $6.7 million S. Ellen Jones neighborhood stabilization project.

The effort — which is being footed with federal funds — has led to the rehabilitation of more than 20 abandoned houses in the SEJ neighborhood.

Mike Kopp, owner of Blue Sun Real Estate Services, said having homeowners in the downtown area is paramount to the success of the business district.

“The SEJ [project] is a good step toward building that residential base,” he said.

 

Remember what you learned

With England not seeking re-election, it will be incumbent on the new administration to establish a marketing plan for New Albany, UEZ Executive Director Michael Ladd said.

Last year’s market study provided a cornerstone for such an effort because it helped identify who lives in the New Albany market and what businesses are successful in the city, he added. But beyond business, the study has also provided information for educators so they can focus on training students for in-demand jobs in the area, Ladd continued.

“What [the study] is really saying is we need a plan and to figure out what we want,” Ladd said.

When a company considers a city for its business, “they’re looking to the locality to provide a work force,” Ladd added.

 

Jobs, education and business

In the last quarter of 2010, the health care sector passed up manufacturing as the largest employment sector for Floyd County with 5,560 employees.

“Both sectors are impacted quite differently during an economic downturn,” said Uric Dufrene, Sanders Chair of the Indiana University Southeast School of Business. “Manufacturing usually has significant losses during any economic downturn, and health care typically is quite resilient.”

Higher paying jobs in Floyd County will only come as bachelor’s degree rates rise, Dufrene continued.

“The region must continue efforts to increase education attainment rates because the manner in which any region embraces and values education often determines their ultimate economic destiny,” he said.

Large industries and companies typically don’t locate to areas where education is not a priority, Dufrene added.

“Some employers won’t even consider you if education attainment rates don’t meet their requirements, just as a fast food joint would not even consider a location that had no traffic,” he said. “So we need the education traffic just to be in the game, or to have a seat at the table.”



Groundwork for growth

But if more industries want to come to New Albany, they also require a place to locate. Likewise, existing industries will also need a place to expand in the future.

“Our biggest deficiency is industrial development ground,” England said.

The city is building infrastructure for the 40-acre Grant Line West Industrial Park, but England said more space is needed to meet demand. Kemper Foods is set to occupy about half of the acreage at Grant Line West once the park launches.

As far as retail business, England said the city has to help market some of the smaller operations to keep them afloat.

Develop New Albany President Susan Kaempfer said the organization will continue its recent efforts including a map detailing the locations of downtown establishments to promote local businesses.

In terms of downtown, Kaempfer said it’s not just visitors to New Albany that aren’t always aware of what businesses are in the area.

“Sometimes [residents] don’t know what businesses are here,” she said.

A uniformed, focused and consistent marketing approach can match New Albany’s trade potential with current consumer needs, Ladd said.

The UEZ marketing survey shows the New Albany business climate and where the city wins and loses in terms of retail sales and who the area’s base consumers are, he added.

Now officials should use the data and other information garnered about the city’s commerce future and past and take action to entice new businesses and protect establishments that have already invested in New Albany, Ladd said.

“This study should be updated in five years,” he said.