Posted on August 25, 2017
Written by Cinda Kelley
Employers in Plainfield, Indiana, are helping fund connector bus service that brings employees to local industrial parks.
It's been more than 25 years since the central Indiana town of Plainfield embraced the transportation, warehouse and distribution industries with an aggressive, innovative business attraction effort. The town’s work paid off handsomely, and Plainfield is now one of North America’s key logistics hubs, with more than 40 million square feet of facilities at the end of 2016.
In addition to welcoming new companies, the town quickly earned a reputation for working closely with local developers and landowners to support and strengthen employers already doing business within the town limits.
Over the past seven years, local leaders began to hear concerns from employers about training and labor shortages. Once again, the community took an innovative approach and reached out to Vincennes University, which located its Logistics Training and Education Center in one of Plainfield’s industrial parks. That gave employers a nearby source for training, as well as easy access to graduates from the program.