NEWS RELEASES
Elkhart Mayor Targets Future Growth Beyond RV Industry
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through The Elkhart Truth's website.
ELKHART, Ind. — The Elkhart Truth reports that the city’s mayor Tim Neese has a new plan to develop economic diversity by targeting industries that have different market-demand factors than the RV industry in order to strengthen the city’s economic base and create a resilience to market swings. Industries that would fit this description include supply-chain management, data analytics, advanced manufacturing, engineered solutions and health care. The mayor hopes to select two or three target industries by spring, ones which would provide positions that can be filled by the local workforce, although efforts to grow regional population will be necessary.
In a press release quoted by the newspaper, Mayor Neese said, “Throughout the city’s history, the economy has been primarily driven by one industry at a time – pharmaceuticals, band instruments, manufactured homes and now recreational vehicles. This over-reliance on a singular base industry has made Elkhart more vulnerable to fluctuations in the economy." Elkhart City Council member Dwight Fish adds, "The RV industry provides a lot of jobs, but if it's down, it's really down. I have lived through two cycles here in Elkhart, and it's not pretty when the RV industry goes down."
Read more in the full press release published by Rasmus S. Jorgensen at The Elkhart Truth.