VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — With the recent change in presidential administration, federal funding has been an issue for businesses and organizations of all sizes across the country, including in Vigo County.
In September of 2023, Entek broke ground on a new $1.5 billion facility in the Vigo County Industrial Park. Two years later, it achieved complete financial closure and planned to be in production by the end of 2025.
However, Steve Whitt, President of Vigo County Economic Development Corporation, said progress has been slowed after President Trump’s executive order to review all federal funding.
“They’ve been working very closely with the Department of Energy, also working very closely with their equity investors, so their work continues”, Whitt said. “They are on their first building; they will eventually have four separate 400,000 square foot buildings. They’re saying the total cost will be about $1.8 billion once its completed.”
In addition to Entek, ZINKPOWER, a hot dip galvanizing company, is currently building their fourth United States facility in Northern Vigo County.
“$50 million, that will be about 100 employees”, Whitt said. “They should go into preliminary production by the end of this year.”
In the future, Vigo County could be home to a data center, as Whitt has received multiple inquiries in the last few weeks.
“Because of the boom in artificial intelligence and AI, communities that have electric infrastructure in place are seeing a lot of interest in data center developers because they take a tremendous amount of power and they need a point of presence where they can tap into the electric grid”, Whitt said.
Whitt said when there’s a change in national administration, economic development slows, but he doesn’t see that lasting long.
“This year has been a little different with the tariff situation”, Whitt said. “I think companies are waiting to see how that all shakes out. Also, interest rates, they are relatively high compared to what they have been in recent years, so I think folks have wanted to see how those things shake out.”
Whitt said he doesn’t think the tariffs or inflation will completely block any new businesses from coming to the area, but many leaders are waiting until things stabilize. He believes the second half of this year will bring more infrastructure to Vigo County.
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