Chip plant project appears to be growing
March 28, 2023
The WestGate One project that will bring a huge investment to northeastern Daviess County may be getting bigger. Daviess County officials have agreed to schedule a special county Redevelopment Commission meeting for April 11 to discuss potential expansion of the project that will result in the construction of a plant to make micro-processing chips. “I know Strongbox (the company building the plant) is discussing trying to get some options on some of our land up there,” said Daviess County Commissioner Michael Taylor. “We are looking at possibly more businesses locating in the tech park.” Strongbox is constructing the 125,000 square foot building that will hold the manufacturing facility. That building had a 25% expansion before it was ever started. It will be home to four chip companies that are expected to produce more than 300 high-paying (up to $100,000 per year) jobs. “I think everything is still going forward,” said Taylor. “We have not heard of any hiccups yet.” The county has already begun putting in place tax breaks for the companies involved in the project on capital investments in excess of $400 million. “It is important for us to help keep this moving,” said Taylor. “That is too big of a project for the county to get stopped. Anything we can do to keep the ball rolling we are willing to do.” Officials with Strongbox have indicated at a previous county meeting that the WestGate One building could wind up being just the first of several buildings tied to the project. “We are going to keep working on that and marching forward and make sure this project is going good,” said Taylor. “It’s a huge project for Daviess County and we don’t want to mess it up.” In other business, the commissioners heard a report on the Montgomery bridge project. County highway supervisor Chris Winkler reported work is getting underway on Railroad Street. He said the bridge is scheduled to close next week. The county is also taking a second look at some land it is looking to sell near the airport. Winkler told the commissioners that an oil tank on the property the county was trying to sell was hooked into several oil wells on the property. “It’s the old county farm out by the airport,” said Taylor. “There have always been active wells out there but the tank led to an old gas lease that kind of ties it all together. We are doing some research on those old contracts to figure out what we have and don’t have.” Winkler reported the county highway department is reviewing its policies on fair-weather roads. Those roads are generally in the river bottoms. They get graded twice a year and are generally for farmers to use to access their fields. “We have had a few people ask about upgrading the fair-weather roads,” said Taylor. “We have improved some in the past. We will be revisiting our policy for upgrading those roads and which ones might qualify for improvements in the future.” The commissioners approved a $400 payment to the Indiana National Guard to use the armory as a vote center on the two Saturdays prior to the primary election. Vanessa Phillips with IRACS (Integrated Recovery And Correctional Support) gave an update of the project. She says the five employees have work with prisoners in the jail and have been able to help those inmates get services including photo identification for 70 inmates and some of them were able to extend their driver’s licenses. She also reported the organization helped another 40 inmates track down a birth certificate. She says 30 inmates just graduated earlier this month from a treatment program. The commissioners approved a $7,500 grant from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office. Chief deputy Steve Sturgis told the commissioners the Marine Grant is used for the county to patrol West Boggs Lake. County attorney Grant Swartzentruber told the commissioners the Advisory Plan Commission will be meeting and should have a recommendation for a solar farm ordinance by the end of April.