More than 100 people crowded into the YES Cinema Conference Center this week, in downtown Columbus, to hear a report on the economic impact of Honda on Bartholomew County. The event was sponsored by the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and the Community Education Coalition.

The purpose of the event was to transform everyone’s excitement and anxiety into a more realistic assessment, said Jack Hess of the Chamber of Commerce.

Four speakers were invited to concentrate specifically on the economic effects, opportunities and obstacles of Honda’s decision.

Economist Jim Smith is unconvinced there will be any appreciable impact to Bartholomew County. The relative mix of people living in the county is unlikely to change, and the economic trajectory of the community will not swerve, one way or the other. Besides, he noted, the changes will happen slowly. On projects such as these, there will be a significant time lag.

Larry Ingraham, an expert on Japanese business practices, does foresee a multiplier of six new jobs for every one job created by Honda, and this might give existing employers pause. Honda and its suppliers are probably going to attract people from jobs that will then be difficult to fill, and their higher-wage rates will put pressure on others to compete for labor.

Ingraham did point out the significant economic impact of Honda’s probable donations of charity and volunteer efforts.

George Dutro gave a report from his visit to Toyota’s facility near Princeton, noting that the executives chose not to live nearby in part because Princeton did not offer the amenities they wanted and in part because local politicians alienated the Japanese. He also observed that Toyota created so many services on site for associates, such as meals and child care, they rarely have reason to leave the campus to spend money in the local economy.

Finally, Morton Marcus of the Indiana Business Research Center, assumes that Columbus would hope to attract the executive group at Honda to live in their county, since they fit the profile Columbus has been trying to achieve, but he foresees obstacles, the most obvious of which is the inadequacy of State Road 46 between Columbus and the proposed site. He called for a four-lane limited-access highway.

During the presentation, attendees were advised to network with Japanese executives, learn from communities that already went through similar transitions, invest in quality of life issues and pay attention to the signal that the city’s retail profile gives to visitors.

In other words, people will draw inferences about a place by the kinds of shops they see.

Jennifer Sturges, executive director of the Greensburg/Decatur County Chamber of Commerce, attended the presentation and had this to say.

“The forum put on by the Columbus Chamber and their Community Education Coalition was an interesting mix of analyst’s opinions, but only time will tell as to what economic impact Honda will have on our region,” she said. “The comment that I found the most useful was from Morton Marcus who encouraged all of us to remember that we should be striving to create the type of community we want to live in and not what we think someone else wants.”

The sponsors of this event intend to hold two more forums before Christmas, and they announced a public meeting to be held on the campus of Indiana University – Purdue University at Columbus (IUPUC) on September 13 from 8:30 -10:30 am.

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