14 News, The Tri-State's News and Weather Leader-Mayor Weinzapfel delivers state of the city
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By Becky Graham - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email
EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - How is Evansville weathering the economic storm?
Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel gave his annual state of the city address Tuesday.
The mayor's speech had some good news and some bad news.
The bad news was this community has felt the recession.
The good news was the city isn't letting that get them down.
This year they will welcome new companies and new jobs.
Last year, Weinzapfel said thousands of jobs were lost and a major corporation, Whirlpool, decided it will close it's doors and move production out of the country.
This news, he said, was hard for residents to swallow, but the mayor believes the city has made some intelligent and fiscally sound decisions.
This year, several companies are making investments into Evansville's future.
Berry Plastics is currently finishing up the new $130 million expansion, and once that's completed, 360 new jobs will be coming to the area in the next couple of years.
Another big contributor to growth in this area, the mayor said, will be Tropicana Entertainment.
"Tropicana is a brand new company," Mayor Weinzapfel said. "They actually have professional management in place, people who have actually run casinos. They know what they are doing. We want to see them succeed because if they are successful that means they are adding jobs."
The mayor is also committed to downtown revitalization.
He said this summer, Browning Investments will be transforming the old Executive building into a hotel, and as for the status of the new downtown arena, it's right on schedule.
Being fiscally responsible though, he said, will keep Evansville afloat.
He said right now a committee is looking at consolidating city and county government.
Still, he admitted Evansville has a long road ahead, but said being resilient will help them get back on track.
14 News did ask the mayor about his future political plans.
He said for now he wants to stay focused on what needs to be done here.
Click here to read the entire statement.
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