Washington County Economic Growth Partnership
Contact: Angie Buchanan
99 Public Square, Ste. 202
Salem, IN 47167
Phone: 812-883-8803
www.wcegp.org

OUR CULTURE

You can dive into the rich tapestry of our town’s history and culture through our museums,
festivals and community events such as Old Settlers Days, Campbellsburg Country Festival,
Pekin 4th of July Celebration, Friday Night on the Salem Square, Racing at the Historic Salem
Speedway, Farmers & Merchants Fair and LM Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival.

Washington County is proud to offer high-rated educational facilities, providing a bright future for the next generation. In addition, our residents have access within an hour’s drive or less to higher
education institutions located in the surrounding area.

OUR STRENGTHS

Our strengths include our workforce, proximity to transportation thoroughfares, educational resources, and the overall health of our business environment.

Ease of Access

Indiana is the hub for several major interstate highways that crisscross Indiana, connecting Hoosiers to the rest of the United States. Washington County is conveniently situated with access to these Interstates that deliver freight to large metropolitan areas including Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati, Lexington and St. Louis.

Interstate 65

Interstate 65 delivers commercial vehicle traffic from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Major cities along the route include Gary Indiana (Chicago Area), Indianapolis, Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville Tennessee, Birmingham and Mobile, Alabama along the Gulf of Mexico.

Interstate 64

Interstate 64 delivers vehicle traffic and commercial drivers to midwestern cities such as Greater St. Louis, Missouri, Louisville, Kentucky metropolitan area (including Washington County, Indiana) Lexington, Kentucky metro area, Charleston, West Virginia metro area and the Greater Richmond, Virginia area and many smaller towns along the route.

Indiana State Roads 37, 56, 60 and 135

Our Indiana state roads deliver travelers directly to regional areas including: New Albany, Jeffersonville, Bedford, Bloomington, Corydon, Scottsburg, Madison, Nashville, Jasper, French Lick, Vevay, Paoli, Fort Wayne and more locations.

AIRPORTS

– Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport / UPS Worldport Hub

Worldport is the world’s largest automated package handling facility. The sorting facility is 5.2 million square feet which is equivalent to 90 football fields. Louisville’s two parallel runways handle a constant arrival of aircraft each night – about one aircraft each minute during peak arrival times. During a sort, the UPS Worldport system processes 115 packages per second. A normal day is about two million packages, but that can more than double in the weeks before Christmas.

WALDPORT STATISTICS

• 40 miles from Washington County
• Sorts 416,000 packages per hour
• 125 Aircraft Parking Spaces

– Indianapolis International Airport / FedEx Express National Hub

The 2.4-million-square-foot FedEx Express Indianapolis National Hub opened in 1988, and is the company’s second-largest cargo facility, trailing only the company’s SuperHub in Memphis. As of 2021, the facility employed about 700 full-time and 3,000 part-time workers, with the capability of sorting more than 2 million packages a day.

FedEx’s presence in Indianapolis has helped the airport remain one of the top-10 largest cargo airports in the country. FedEx Express delivers freight and packages to more than 375 destinations over 220 countries across six continents each day. FedEx Express will move its heavy maintenance capability to its Indianapolis hub after the lease expires on their Los Angeles World Airports facility in June 2024.

FEDEX EXPRESS NATIONAL HUB STATISTICS

• 80 miles from Washington County
• Sorts 2.3 million packages per day
• 63 Airplane Parking Spaces

– Salem Municipal Airport

The Salem Municipal Airport is an important factor in the long-range development plans for the City of Salem. The City of Salem Airport has embarked on a 9-Phase development and renovation plan that is receiving federal matching funds to support and complete the project. Central to the development plan is to increase the current runway length from 2,738 feet to 5,000 feet.

The additional runway length will allow for light to medium sized aircraft and specifically corporate aircraft to land at the City of Salem Airport. The enhanced airport will be a key factor in facilitating corporate and industrial relocation to the Salem area. The enhanced airport will also allow the City of Salem to take advantage of the overcrowding at the Metropolitan Louisville area airports by providing an alternative to corporate air traffic.

In recent years the airport has received several grants from the FAA through the Airport Improvement Program. The Salem Municipal Airport Board of Aviation Commissioners (BOAC) is cooperating with local economic development groups within the city and county to improve the potential job growth associated with expansion of their airport to accommodate larger corporate aircraft.

OUR GROWING INDUSTRIAL PARK

Our meticulously planned J.F. Helsel Commerce Park is a 129-acre park that is your opportunity to build or expand your business operations with unparalleled potential. Our development offers convenient access to East-West and North-South oriented Interstate highways, and our community is situated between two of the largest airport freight hubs in the country. Our talented, eager workforce is ready to contribute to the success of your business and our community. Our county and state level tax structure are one of the lowest in the country and that brings more resources to your bottom line.

OUR INDUSTRIES

We’re actively seeking private-sector investment in projects that complement our established business community. The following is a highlight of our current industry profile.

Advanced Manufacturing

• Metals: Automotive parts, drivetrain units, metal processing and products, fabricated metals
• Plastics: flexible, rigid & dual durometer PVC and TPE NSF
• Lumber, Hardwoods and Wood Production: Office furniture, fresh-sawn hardwood lumber, custom cabinetry

Healthcare & Medical Services

• Clinical services and other health related support services