FORT WAYNE, Ind., Dec. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Indiana Michigan
Power (I&M), an American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) company,
is dedicated to improving the quality of life and growing the
communities it proudly serves. That's why I&M recently provided
a total of $215,000 in economic
development grants to seven organizations in its service territory
– six in Indiana and one in
Southwest Michigan.
The grants were given to economic development organizations
serving St. Joseph, Adams, Noble,
Delaware, Allen and Elkhart Counties in Indiana and Berrien
County in Michigan.
"I&M is committed to helping our local communities achieve
their growth objectives and improve areas prime for new business,"
said Ashley Savieo, director of
Economic and Business Development for American Electric Power. "Our
goal is to help create strong and diverse local economies that will
benefit the communities where we our customers live, shop, work,
and attend school."
The funds will support development organizations' ongoing
efforts to create shovel-ready industrial properties and develop
speculative industrial buildings. These are critical assets for
attracting new or growing employers as every step taken by
development organizations before a company chooses to invest in a
location helps make the site more marketable and mitigate risks to
the company looking to invest.
Investing in this work has the benefits of increasing the local
tax base, growing opportunities for job and wage creation and
increasing regional gross domestic product.
There are numerous hurtles in making sure commercial and
industrial sites have access to the needed resources, and by being
involved in the process I&M can make sure potential businesses
are able to utilize infrastructure already put into place.
Below is a breakdown of the $215,000 in grants by county and recipient
organization:
Michiana
- Berrien County, Mich.
($29,500)
-
- Cornerstone Alliance of Berrien
County – Cornerstone Industrial Park spec building
-
- I&M provided a grant in order to clear part of the
property.
- Cornerstone Alliance of Berrien
County – Lemon Creek Site
-
- I&M provided a grant for the organization to prepare
conceptual plans for the property to market to a larger
audience.
- St. Joseph County, Ind.
($50,000)
-
- St. Joseph County Chamber of
Commerce – Indiana Enterprise Center (IEC) Site 2
-
- I&M provided a grant for the design of building concepts,
drawings, site plans, and engineering. Grant money will also assist
in the due diligence, a portion of acquisition price, site
readiness, clearing and grading.
- Elkhart County, Ind.
($25,000)
-
- EDC of Elkhart – West Baugo
Parkway site
-
- I&M provided a grant to remedy water access and pressure
issues. The grant will also help with ground-cover and brush site
clean-up for aesthetic improvements.
Northeast Indiana
- Adams County, Ind.
($50,000)
-
- Adams County Economic Development Corp.– AC North Site
-
- I&M provided a grant for creating a new business park. It
will also be utilized to complete studies/assessments to identify
development risks and conceptual plans.
- Noble County, Ind.
($25,000)
-
- Town of Avilla – Avilla
Industrial Park
-
- I&M provided a grant to the Town
of Avilla to complete engineering work in its industrial
park.
- Funding from I&M will help match an EDA grant recently
awarded to the town.
- Infrastructure support will include construction of a public
roadway, storm water swales and culverts as well as storm water
detention, extending water, sewer lines and a lift station.
- This grant will help Avilla to
recruit new industrial park users.
- Allen County, Ind.
($25,000)
-
- Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. &
Hagerman Group – Airport Business Center West
- I&M has provided a grant to advance engineering work that
will lead to the installation of a needed public infrastructure for
full site build out.
- This is timely, as Allen
County officials are working to improve the intersection of
Airport Expressway and Smith Roads.
East Central Indiana
- Delaware County, Ind.
($10,000)
-
- Muncie-Delaware County
Economic Development Alliance – Muncie Industria Centre
- I&M provided a grant to help cover due diligence and site
planning including a Food Processing Shovel Ready Site
Designation.
I&M is focused on helping local communities become more
competitive for business investment.
Site development can be a very large undertaking for communities
because of logistical issues and overall costs before a business
ever looks at a piece of property. The grants will help fund land
studies, cleanups and more that will allow the potential businesses
to understand what resources are available at a specific
development site
"Getting the land in a shovel-ready condition is critical for
our communities to be able to market the land for new development,"
said Shelley Klug, manager of
Economic and Business Development with American Electric Power
said. "Businesses are focused on speed to market so mitigating
risks in advance results in cost savings for the company and a
positive customer experience."
For more information on I&M's economic development
commitment visit aeped.com/regions/indiana.
ABOUT INDIANA MICHIGAN POWER:
Indiana Michigan Power (I&M) is headquartered in
Fort Wayne, and its approximately
2,100 employees serve more than 600,000 customers. More than 85% of
its energy delivered in 2020 was emission-free. I&M has
at its availability various sources of generation including 2,278
MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation
from Indiana, more than 22 MW of
hydro generation in both states, nearly 35 MW of large-scale solar
generation in both states, and 2,620 MW of coal-fueled generation
in Indiana.
ABOUT AMERICAN ELECTRIC POWER:
American Electric Power, based in Columbus, Ohio, is powering a cleaner,
brighter energy future for its customers and communities. AEP's
approximately 16,700 employees operate and maintain the nation's
largest electricity transmission system and more than 224,000 miles
of distribution lines to safely deliver reliable and affordable
power to 5.5 million regulated customers in 11 states. AEP also is
one of the nation's largest electricity producers with
approximately 31,000 megawatts of diverse generating capacity,
including more than 5,900 megawatts of renewable energy. The
company's plans include growing its renewable generation portfolio
to approximately 50% of total capacity by 2030. AEP is on track to
reach an 80% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 levels
by 2030 and has committed to achieving net zero by 2050. AEP is
recognized consistently for its focus on sustainability, community
engagement, and diversity, equity and inclusion. AEP's family of
companies includes utilities AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power
(in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in
Tennessee), Indiana Michigan
Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power
Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana, east Texas and the Texas
Panhandle). AEP also owns AEP Energy, which provides
innovative competitive energy solutions nationwide. For more
information, visit aep.com.
News releases and other information about I&M
are available at IndianaMichiganPower.com
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/indiana-michigan-power-is-powering-the-next-opportunity-by-giving-215-000-in-economic-development-grants-to-local-communities-in-its-service-territory-301446536.html
SOURCE Indiana Michigan Power