MOUNT VERNON – When COVID-19 hit, the nonprofit Area Development Foundation Inc. joined other agencies in working on a response to the crisis.
“We shifted to emergency response mode to try to lessen the damage that the economic shutdown had on the county,” the foundation’s president, Jeffrey Gottke, told the Mount Vernon News.
The foundation worked on an emergency grant and loan program to provide working capital for businesses.
“We were able to put together almost $600,000 for emergency business assistance,” Gottke said. “It was our own little Paycheck Protection Program we had here.”
Local governments, nonprofits, foundations and some individuals contributed to the program, he said. The program helped almost 50 businesses from across the county, including restaurants, retails, hotels and manufacturers.
At the same time, the foundation’s business recruitment efforts shifted to all remote.
“We were calling the industrial manufacturers maybe every two weeks just to check in with them,” Gottke said. “There were weekly business calls with the business community. We were able to stay in pretty close communication.”
Gottke noted that the outlook for 2021 is promising.
“Every project that we had in the works took a pause but are now back again,” he said. “We didn’t lose any projects.”
The Knox County unemployment rate is back to pre-COVID levels, he added.
“The real estate market is red hot,” Gottke said. “Some of our manufacturers are having record years.
The Knox County Land Bank, operated by the foundation, is close to purchasing the site of the former Siemens AG plant in Mount Vernon from the Cooper Cameron Corp. It will then put the 47-acre property with almost 30 buildings up for sale.
“We’re getting a lot of interest,” Gottke said. “We’re looking for multiple manufacturers. Our plan is to do a multi-tenant urban industrial park. We’re going to look at what the buildings were designed for and target those types of industries.”
The buildings have high ceilings, thick floors and cranes.
“We’re going to look at heavy manufacturing,” he said. “Those also happen to be the highest-paying jobs. It serves everybody’s interest that we target those types of businesses.” The foundation is working with local schools to help them produce welders, machinists and industrial repair workers.
With a strong demand for housing, the foundation is also expanding into that space.
“Houses are selling the day they go on the market,” Gottke said. “We’re trying to attract housing developers to the county to build more.”
