Huntington IN Chamber: Industry and Agriculture

Huntington County offers many distinctive advantages to business and industry: a skilled labor force with a solid work ethic, infrastructure improvements conducive to industrial growth, access to major transportation arteries, and excellent cooperation between the public and private sectors. In addition, modest real estate prices, low office rents, and favorable property taxes make the county highly attractive to savvy business leaders.

Every other year the Chamber of Commerce sponsors the Huntington County Expo at the Huntington University Field House. The Expo is a showcase of products, services, and ideas of area businesses and organizations. Attendance at the Expo exceeds 10,000 during the two-day event. Nearly 100 industries call Huntington County home.

Huntington's diverse manufacturing base also includes a number of nationally recognized firms such as Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Square D Co., Midwest Texans, and Wabash Magnetics (Kearney-National). The Majestic Products Co, a Canadian firm with a plant in Huntington, is the world's largest supplier of hearth products. United Technologies Electronic Controls, a division of Carrier, is one of the county’s largest employers. UTEC manufactures a wide variety of electronic controls for the commercial, industrial, and consumer markets. Shuttleworth, Inc. is one of Huntington County’s leading home-grown companies. It designs and builds precision conveyor systems and has grown into an international firm.

The distribution industry is represented by Bendix, Dayton Freight, Hiner Transport, Homier Distribution, and Stride Rite. These firms use the excellent infrastructure, US-24, US-224 and Interstate 69 (I-69), to reach over 80% of the nations population within 24 hours.

Huntington County United Economic Development Corporation (HCUED), and its arm Lime City Economic Development Committee, holds options on most available industrial property, working with both new and expanding industry. Close relationships exist with both city and county governments. Huntington County offers incentives for new investment such as tax abatement and low-interest loans. Local governments work closely with the local Chambers of Commerce and the Indiana Department of Commerce in coordinating the programs offered by the State of Indiana.

Huntington County offers a number of industrial sites and parks. Both Markle and Warren offer sites along I-69 with infrastructure improvements underway. Huntington has two fully developed parks. Two others have sewer, water, and gas lines adjacent to the site. Riverforks Industrial Park, with 250 acres on the southwest side of the city, is completely ready to accommodate heavy industrial needs with all infrastructure in place. Commercial Road Industrial Park, located on U.S. 24, serves the needs of light industry. Adjacent to Commercial Road is Northpoint Business Park, a new 84 acre site, now under development. Park 24 lies along the east side of the city, bordered on the north by 4-lane U.S. 24 and on the south by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad. It is only 12 miles from I-69.

Agri-business continues to constitute a sizable portion of the economy in Huntington County. There are approximately 700 farms covering 188,000 acres. Soybeans, corn, and wheat are the principal crops. Recent figures show 58,000 head of hogs and 7,900 head of cattle. One of the nation’s leading producers of laying hens operates a major facility near Warren. The sale of crops and livestock produce a gross income of over $60.6 million and purchases by these same farms topped $60.3 million in 1995.