RISU America, Inc., is quickly working to establish a manufacturing facility in Shelbyville.
Local attorney Peter DePrez appeared before the Shelbyville Common Council Monday requesting the city designate the area of RISU’s proposed new facility as an economic revitalization area as a first step toward awarding the Japanese company a tax abatement.
The proposed facility will be at 789 W. Boomer Way, east of Enterprise Drive and north of Boggstown Road.
RISU America, a plastics manufacturer with products such as containers and pallets, will be the 15th Japanese company to locate in Shelby County, according to Shelbyville Mayor Scott Furgeson.
The council approved the economic revitalization area designation opening the way for DePrez to return at the first April council meeting to formally request a 10-year tax abatement.
DePrez stated Monday that RISU is preparing to break ground in April and already has a local construction agreement in place with Runnebohm Construction to build the facility.
The tax abatement will save the company $4,787,000 in taxes over its 10-year cycle but also means the company will still pay $4,787,000 in taxes in that timeframe.
The same undeveloped property netted the city $884 in taxes in 2023, according to DePrez.
City officials, including Furgeson and common council member Linda Sanders, met with RISU representatives during a September trip to Japan.
“I think this is a great project,” said Sanders (photo) at the council meeting. “They were phenomenal to work with while we were over there, and coming here, the things they make will do well here. I think it’s pretty exciting.
“They have never ventured out of Japan. They have 15 companies in Japan. This is the first time they are coming to the United States. … They are really down-to-earth people and I think they will be great to work with. They will be great for our community.”
RISU America will have 26 employees with an annual total salary of just over $2 million.
In other council business, a request for funding was approved to allow Jenna Martin, the city’s new director of public relations, to work with CivicPlus to create a new website for the City of Shelbyville.
The city currently has four websites – one each for city government, the police department, the fire department and the parks department. Three of those websites are hosted locally by Tubesock, who is eliminating website hosting from its services.
Martin appeared before the council Monday to recommend using CivicPlus, a web development company experienced with creating government sites. The company has several Indiana government clients including Zionsville, Plainfield, Avon, Brownsburg and Hancock County.
The initial investment to CivicPlus will be $28,418 with an annual fee after year one of $7,775 annually.
The plan is to consolidate all four city sites to one unique website that will prove easier to navigate than the current sites.
“Tubesock really wasn’t in the business to do web design or to handle any of that,” said Sanders. “I think this is pretty exciting to get a firm in here that this is what they do every single day. And they have a good history. I think this is well worth it to get it started.”
In the meeting’s final moments, Furgeson updated the board on Monday’s committee meeting focused on building a new police station.
Furgeson stated both the city police department and the county sheriff’s department needs more space. Finding a site and determining how to pay for it is in the early stages.
“It would be, just guessing, a 25,000-to-27,000 square foot building that we would be looking at,” said Furgeson. “I have no idea on a price tag but I’m thinking $15 million or around there.”
Furgeson also stated the city recently replaced approximately 30-year-old carpet at the police department to improve the look of the facility.
The Shelby County Post is a digital newspaper producing news, sports, obituaries and more without a pay wall or subscription needed. Get the most recent Shelby County Post headlines delivered to your email by visiting shelbycountypost.com and click on the free daily email signup link at the top of the page.
