WestGate Tech Park lands $6.6 million federal grant to build conference center

Architecture drawing of the new WestGate Academy Conference Center.

The $8 million facility will include a business incubator and conference and training space to serve tech-based start-up companies.

The project is expected to create 255 jobs and generate $10.875 million in private investment, according to grantee estimates.

Architect Dale Ankrom

[Click to enlarge]

"I think it's great. I know there have been a lot of people that have worked on it (the grant). I think it is just fantastic. I think that will be the turning point for WestGate. Now, I think it will snowball and now with I-69 coming in with the way it is, I think we are on the right move," Wilkes told the Greene County Daily World. "There are going to be some more spec buildings going in there. It's really looking good."

Wilkes said the growth at the tech park, a joint venture of Greene, Daviess and Martin counties, has been slow and steady.

"People haven't seen a multitude of jobs real quick. But if they'll just look back for the past three or fours years since that started. It's a slow process, but they've created about 400 jobs and this is going to create another 250 and it's just going to go," Wilkes noted.

Wilkes said Greene County is benefiting from what is happening at the tech park in terms of new tax revenues created by the County Option Income Tax (COIT).

"In 2008, Greene County's COIT was $154,000 more than the year before. That tells me that somewhere we are creating jobs because when that County Option Income Tax is coming in we are getting that from someplace. So we are creating jobs. We're going the other direction and not down."

In making the announcement, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said,"The American economy depends on the continuous flow of new technologies and new ideas entering the marketplace to keep us competitive. This EDA grant will create jobs in the tri-county area by helping entrepreneurs leverage existing local resources to create new businesses and support regional economic growth."

He continued, "This EDA investment is being funded under the Second Supplemental Appropriations Disaster Relief Opportunity. Midwest flooding in 2008 severely impacted area manufacturers. This investment will help the area diversify its economy, moving to research and development and higher-technology sectors."

The grant will help fund a 64,000 square feet, two-story conference center and business incubator, designed by Dale Ankrom's DEA Architecture firm from Indianapolis, that will include a 10,000 sq.ft. conference/ multi-function room (capable of seating more than 500), 22 training classrooms, and approximately 8,000 sq.ft. of office space.

An outdoor plaza is planned adjacent to the conference facility, capable of accommodating 350 - 400 people.

Ankrom told the Greene County Daily World, "We are all very grateful for the confidence, funding and opportunity the federal and state governments have demonstrated and presented in our region and specifically our tech park and the people who have made it a success."

He added, "It (the facility) has the potential to be the major cornerstone for the overall developmental growth for not only Westgate Technology Park, but for many surrounding communities.

Ankrom, who is also the tech park's lead developer, is hopeful construction can start within the next three-to-four months, and an occupancy time frame of September - October 2011.

"The Academy, combined with the continued growth of NSWC Crane (which has always been our major focus), the groundbreaking for I-69 and the current dynamic growth of the Westgate Technology Park, opens the doors for future hotels, restaurants, offices, retail and a myriad of other opportunities," Ankrom told the Greene County Daily World. "WestGate is now certainly a very desired area of development activity in our state and we are seeing the visions of many finally become reality.

WestGate Authority President Kent Parisien added, "This new facility will change a lot of things, and it will push the already-successful park to a new level."

Additional funding for the project, which is expected to total more than $8 million, will come from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), WestGate Authority funds, and the Daviess County Economic Development Foundation.

Parisien said that the funding was achieved through intense support from a variety of state and local partners, including IEDC and the Indiana Office of Rural and Community Development (OCRA). Noting that the funding amount for a single rural project was "unusual" for the EDA, Parisien noted that "a great deal of thanks needs to go to Greg Jones and his staff at the Southern Indiana Development Commission. They really went the extra mile on this one."

News of the EDA grant was also welcomed by officials at Purdue University in West Lafayette and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute

Vic Lechtenberg, vice provost of engagement for Purdue University, said that the WestGate had already become more attractive to university and technology engagement through the previous development of more than 100,000 sq. ft. of new technology facilities and the presence of numerous major commercial defense companies.

"This new WestGate Academy will likely open fresh opportunities for university-level involvement in defense technology research and development, which will bring new national attention to the region," Lechtenberg continued. "While the development of the WestGate Academy is certainly a good one for the local region, it is also good for the advancement of commercial defense growth across the state."

The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a top-ranked private engineering school, has maintained a graduate engineering program on the NSWC Crane base for several years.

"We expect that the presence of this new WestGate Academy facility will create new and expanded opportunities for university engagement with the defense companies currently in the WestGate, NSWC Crane contract programs and communities in the region," said William Kline, director of Rose-Hulman Ventures. Dr. Kline, also Associate Dean of Professional Experiences at Rose-Hulman and professor of engineering management for the Institute, coordinated the graduate Rose-Hulman academic program at NSWC Crane for several years.

Indiana District 63 State Representative Mark Messmer, who serves as the leader of the Crane Caucus in the Indiana General Assembly, added, "This will be a most important project that will open the door for many other projects."