Key Points from GINOVUS & IU Public Policy Institute Study

• Completion of route "O" shows “potential for significant growth in regional employment, wages, and tax revenue.”

• With completion of "O" route, total forecasted revenue for the French Lick Resort could grow by an additional $75 million (within 10 years).

• With the expected growth in tourism and hospitality sales in the French Lick area, total regional “indirect sales output would grow to exceed $49 million annually.”

• With the forecasted development, major job creation (on top of an existing 1,275 FTE jobs) would occur at the French Lick Resort. The projected increased in business could support up to 462 new FTEs with an annual payroll increase of $18 million.

• Visitor traffic could increase from the current 1.1 million annual visitors (2019) to 1.5 million following completion of Corridor improvements, resulting in significant job, wage and sales output growth. Growth would be more widely distributed across the region as a result of the Corridor improvements.

• Traffic increase with the completion of "O" route would “justify the construction of 200 additional guest rooms,” at an estimated cost of $20 million in addition to Cook Group expectation of investments up to $7 million annually in ongoing capital improvements.

• Construction investments of $100 million for the new Corridor improvements (Section 2) would generate demand for 282 construction jobs from within the region. Section 3 construction is estimated to create demand for some 160 jobs and a continued investment of $50 million.

• About $145-$150 million in construction spending is expected to generate an additional $55 million of indirect sales output in the Mid-States Region. Expected Cook real property investments will result in another $2.3 million in ongoing, annual indirect output.

• New taxes generated by forecasted growth will “add $11-$12 million annually to what is currently being collected by all taxing authorities.” This is in addition to the $2.6 million in state and county income taxes, and another $26 million in other various taxes, including wagering, innkeeper, food & beverage, utility and property taxes generated now.

• Currently a “net deficit of available workforce” exists in Daviess, Dubois, Martin and Orange counties. Businesses in Lawrence and Orange counties currently have “limited access to labor, and friction in the market show up in disparities between metrics like housing vacancy, unemployment and distribution of business output.”

• In Lawrence County, “local employers have trouble accessing labor that is willing or able to commute to Lawrence County from the surrounding area.”

• Lawrence County businesses servicing commercial defense contracts reported that “transportation time and cost is already impacting their ability to service customers.”

• Investing in Corridor improvements on the 231 option “exacerbate the business, employment and housing struggles facing Lawrence and Orange counties.”

• Similar to the current situation in Orange County, “the comparatively high volume and rate of vacant housing in Lawrence County supports the notion of commuting challenges causing limited access to jobs outside of the county.”

For more information, please visit http://frenchlickparkwaycoalition.com/