The fiber loop, after all, is a key ingredient for an industrial park, called the Indiana Enterprise Center, which spans a 22,000-acre area near New Carlisle that is now dominated by farmland.
Earlier this month, a news release from the U.S. Economic Development Administration announcing a $1 million federal grant to help with the high-speed Internet project said it was “expected to create 230 jobs and spur $710 million in private investment.” The release attributed the figures to St. Joseph County.
But it also raised a question: How would those jobs be created?
At the time of the announcement, county leaders did not return messages from The Tribune seeking an answer to the question. The federal agency said it could not help.
So The Tribune filed a records request for the application the county submitted to secure the federal grant.
The application shows the job estimate is based on proposed expansion plans of existing businesses that the county says would benefit from high-speed Internet.
In the application, which was submitted last fall, the county says the project would:
- “Allow for the expansion of Navistar, roughly 30 new jobs.” Navistar Proving Grounds is a commercial truck and engine company in the area.
- “Allow for the second phase of the St. Joseph County Energy Center to occur, roughly 40 new jobs.”
- “Provide for the location of the Smith Ready Mix site, roughly 20 new jobs.”
- “Service the proposed South Bend Chocolate Factory expansion project, roughly 140 new jobs.”
Still, Schalliol said, high-speed Internet would be a boon for businesses in the area.
“The benefit is that they can expand and do more at these facilities with that capacity,” he said.
Schalliol estimated 10 to 20 temporary construction jobs would be created to install the fiber line. And he said other public and private projects in the New Carlisle area are expected to benefit from high-speed Internet, as well as schools and the local library.
“Rural broadband is a huge opportunity for development,” he said.
The application includes a section titled, “Economic impacts of the project,” where the expansion plans for the four companies are listed.
It says Navistar needs high-speed Internet to test autonomous vehicles at its site.
Navistar teamed with the county, University of Notre Dame and other organizations to recently apply for a $10 million federal grant for a project to test autonomous vehicles. The company is also expected to spend $10 million on site improvements, including a chassis lab and 30-acre autonomous vehicle testing surface.
The St. Joseph Energy Center, a 700-megawatt natural gas power plant that began operating with 20 employees last year, has planned a second construction phase that would double the plant’s electricity output and create another 20 jobs.
In a letter included in the county’s application, the energy center said it requires “fast and reliable Internet” to “dispatch and analyze operations in real time.” Energy center officials plan to break ground this year on the second phase, which calls for a private investment of $700 million and would create 700 temporary construction jobs.
A Smith Ready Mix official said in a letter that high-speed Internet would provide an array of benefits at its new site near New Carlisle, improving customer communication and the transfer of data.
South Bend Chocolate Co. founder Mark Tarner, meanwhile, plans to build a new factory and two museums west of South Bend International Airport.
The fiber line will run by Tarner’s site, which is southwest of U.S. 20 and the St. Joseph Valley Parkway. But Tarner said this week he hasn’t yet decided whether to tap into the line.
Tarner hopes to break ground this summer on the project, which calls for a private investment of $10 million to $14 million. The first construction phase could create 50 to 100 jobs. A proposed second phase could create 100 additional jobs, but he said it would depend on “if we get a couple of hotels there” and a restaurant.
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