Two members of the Rush County community currently are in Japan, diligently campaigning on behalf of Rush County’s economic outlook.

Rush County Economic and Community Development Corporation (ECDC) Executive Director Greg Griffin, along with Rushville Common Council President Mike Pavey are currently in Tokyo, meeting with Honda executives and other potential investors and suppliers that will come with the new Greensburg Honda plant.

Griffin and Pavey will also be paying a visit to the parent companies of Rushville’s Fujitsu Ten and INTAT.

This is only a small step in a process that could have a huge economic impact on Rush County.

“Honda is an economic development win for the entire southeast region,” Griffin said. “But obviously, we here at the ECDC focus on Rush County, and we see nothing but positive coming from this.”

One of the ECDC’s priorities is making sure that the Rush County workforce is experiencing a boost, while at the same time protecting the city’s existing workforce and industry.

“There are opportunities for jobs with good benefits, but we want to make sure that it doesn’t hurt our existing businesses’ workforce,” Griffin said. “The ECDC is proactive in that area. Our goal is to implement training programs to get people prepared for the Honda jobs, as those positions will be extremely competitive. I think the strongest misconception about Honda is that just anyone can walk in a get a job there, and that’s not the case. They’re only hiring the cream of the crop, so to speak.”

Workforce development is strategic goal No. 2 for the ECDC. They want to help improve the quality and availability of workforce in Rush County, and to be proactive rather than reactive to workforce development issues.

“We’re hoping to have some workforce development opportunities to train at Rushville’s current companies, so that others can be trained to take open positions left by those going to Honda,” Griffin said. “It’s inevitable that we’re going to lose some qualified employees to Honda, but we don’t want to wait until there’s a problem and our companies are struggling due to lack of manpower. We want to have a plan of action in place.”

A meeting between the ECDC and local businesses and industries is planned for the near future. Griffin wants to address employers’ training needs and get input on what they think Honda might do for their workforce.

“We want to make sure that these industries can adequately train their employees so that they will be able to be productive and have no issues,” he said.

A major benefit of Honda’s plant site in Greensburg will be the added businesses and industries that the factory will bring with it.

“We’ve got a good location for suppliers,” Griffin said. “We’ve already had some inquiries from tier-1 suppliers to Honda, and our county has been a finalist for a location for these industries. These suppliers and supplemental industries are our number one priority. And the 2,000-plus jobs that Honda will bring with it will turn into many more jobs, and offer a much more significant impact on the job market than the direct jobs.”

The county has ample industrial land at the Industrial Park North (across from INTAT) with infrastructure already in place for these industries to relocate. There is property available in Milroy as well.

“Our job is to make sure that these industrial sites are shovel-ready,” Griffin said. “The state has a program and it outlines having options and infrastructure in place, permits as well as having environmental issues looked at. All the suppliers have to do is come and build. This is extremely important to tier-1 suppliers, because all they have to do is come and build. They don’t want to have to wait for a community to get their act together.”