Cooper Tire
Johnson County REMC powers new central Indiana business
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company is opening the largest building in the state of Indiana that is LEED certified to be energy efficient and environmentally responsible.
The facility, opening in 2009, represents a capital investment of $24 million and will result in the creation of 60 new jobs. The tire company’s nearly 809,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution center is located in the City of Franklin at the intersection of Interstate 65 and State Road 44 in the Franklin Tech Park.
Shovel Ready provides competitive advantage
A 260-acre mixed-use business park, the Franklin Tech Park is state-certified as shovel ready, meaning much of the preliminary site work and permitting has been done, clearing the way for rapid development at a lower cost. That includes utilities.
With the electrical system for the park already in place, no additional installations were needed to service Cooper Tire, said Chet Aubin, the CEO of Johnson County REMC, the local affiliate of Hoosier Energy.
“As a certified shovel ready site we made sure almost any type of electric requirement could be met prior to the actual need so this was one of those projects where we didn’t have to do much post decision. It had a looped feed already in the Business Park” he said.
Getting the facility Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified by the U.S. Green Building Council means it has met or exceeded nationally accepted standards for design, construction and operation in five categories: site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
City provides assistance to gain LEED Certification
“Part of the City’s incentive package included Tax Increment Finance (TIF) money to help Cooper with the LEED certification building materials requirement,” said Cheryl Morphew, executive director of the Johnson County Development Corp.
Tax Increment Finance funding comes from the taxes the community gains from economic growth in a designated TIF allocation area – the community reinvests the incremental tax revenues to continue development of the area.
Getting the LEED certification was important from a competitive stand point because the company will save money in the long run, said Craig Marks, project manager for the tire company. Cooper chose the Franklin site to consolidate two other facilities into one location – it was the best network model, he added.
“The cost of land, property tax rate, availability of qualified labor, in-bound transportation costs and local incentives also made Franklin the best choice for us,” Marks said.
In another gesture of environmental responsibility, in 2008 the developers of the park gave about 32 wooded acres on the site, valued at nearly $1.4 million, to nearby Franklin College for its students to use in botany and ecology field studies.