CRANE —
The leaders of the WestGate @ Crane Technology park are celebrating its seventh year of existence this month, coincidentally after a newspaper article raised questions about funding at the park.
WestGate released a press release Wednesday celebrating $75 million in public and private investments and 1,400 employees. The release said the birth the park started in July 2005 when Daviess County started talks of expanding its park with Greene and Martin counties.
The area in the three counties was dotted here and there with abandoned Army barracks, a former elementary school and burned-out trailers,” WestGate Authority president Kent Parisien said in the release. “But the vision was clear.”
The vision created one of the largest parks of its type in the nation, home to 12 defense contractors and 1,400 employees. It promises to get larger with the completion of I-69 from Evansville at the end of this year and the opening of the 64,000 square-foot WestGate Academy this fall.
But the academy and a large part of it was the subject of an article by The Indianapolis Star last Sunday. In The Star article, titled “Disaster relief? Well, not really,” Washington D.C.-based reporter Maureen Groppe wrote the park received $6.7 million in disaster relief funds from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Agency to build the academy building.
“None of these grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration had any direct connection to the damage caused by the (2008) storms and were for long-planned projects,” Groppe wrote.
The story also shown pictures of the 2008 flooding in Elnora and the building itself. The academy was the largest benefactor of EDA funds in the story, with $6.7 million in funds.
The EDA disaster program gives out funds for projects that are in, or close to, disaster areas that affect the economic recovery of the affected region.
In the story, she quoted Greg Jones, executive director of the Loogootee-based Southern Indiana Development Commission. Jones said the academy and the WestGate park will do well.
An EDA spokesman said the department has a long history of partnering with disaster-impacted communities to advance their long-term economic recovery, including the WestGate Academy Conference Center.
“The WestGate @ Crane Technology Park is projected to have a positive economic impact on the region, providing a business accelerator and training space for entrepreneurs and small business owners,” the spokesman said. “The project is expected to create 255 jobs and generate nearly $11 million in private investment, according to grantee estimates.”
WestGate will also open a Comfort Suites hotel this fall to accommodate business travelers coming to the tech park and soon will build a $12 million project called the Battery Innovation Center. The center, according to Parisien, is “expected to attract and create a whole new engery-development related national cluster for the region, complementing the work performed by NSWC Crane.”
Local News
WestGate fights back after Star article
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Prejudging for Fair contest
Prejudging for Fair contest
Prejudging for the Daviess County Fair’s Little Miss and Mister contest will be at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Elnora Fire Station.
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ND to adopt new textbooks
The North Daviess School Board approved the adoption of new reading textbooks for kindergarten through grade six.
Reading Street from Pearson Scott Foresman will be used for the next six years beginning in the fall. Text books fees for the upcoming school year will remain about the same for kindergarten through grade six. Textbooks for the junior and senior high will vary depending on the classes in which students enroll.
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Man shot with BB gun
Monday
9:33 p.m. - A male caller at 603 N.W. Second St. said his roommate shot himself in the tongue with a pellet gun. The roommate told officers he thought the gun was not loaded. Both the caller and the roommate were taken to Daviess Community Hospital.
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Hupmobile club to visit locally
If you see nearly two dozen classic cars rolling up and the down the roads of Daviess County and the surrounding areas next week, there’s a good chance you are seeing a Hupmobile. Beginning Sunday, the International Hupmobile Club will begin its annual tour, this time across southwest Indiana.
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Shooter had minor legal issues
James D. Jones, 60, of Shoals has been identified as the suspect killed when gunfire was exchanged between Jones and State Trooper Jarrod Lents, a nine year veteran of the Indiana State Police
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Lucille Dillon
Lucille Dillon, the first lady of tourism in Daviess County, died Saturday. She was 76.
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Eric Bassler to run for state Senate
A Washington City Councilman announced Monday his intentions to run for the state senate.
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UPDATED! Trooper shot near U.S. 50; suspect dead
An Indiana State Trooper was injured following a shooting on U.S. 50 Monday.
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4-year-old dies after incident at Eastside Park
A 4-year-old who was found in the water of the overflow of Baumert Lake, near the Pavilion at Eastside Park, was pronounced dead at Daviess Community Hospital.
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Navy friends are reunited after 42 years
It had been 42 years since Jim Dant, Washington, had been in contact with his Navy buddy Glen Bernard.
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