Major dream becomes economic engine in New Albany

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Twenty years ago, the New Albany International Business Park was simply a cornfield and an ambitious dream. Today, that dream has become a reality that encompasses more than 11.5 million square feet of commercial space, houses more than 15,000 employees and represents more than $3.4 billion in private investment.

“People ask me, ‘When you and Les started this 25 years ago, what were your expectations?’” recalls Jack Kessler, chairman of the New Albany Company who co-founded the park with Leslie H. Wexner, chairman and CEO of L Brands. “Developers usually make a dream and talk about the dream, but the reality typically is not as good. In this case, reality is better than the dream.”

Today, New Albany is home to the largest master-planned business park in the region and also the fastest growing. The story of how New Albany transformed a field of dreams into an asset that Columbus 2020 promotes across the globe is as impressive as the results.

“The business park is uniquely positioned among American business parks and a tremendous asset for the Columbus region,” says Kenny McDonald, president and chief economic officer for Columbus 2020. “The quality of developments, name brands that went in there and diversity of operations are increasingly impressive as we benchmark it against other parks around the country.”

Among the decisions that led to success was the establishment of a Joint Economic Development Committee that included the city, schools and the business park, and led to New Albany being among the first communities to offer performance-based incentives.

Proactively investing in infrastructure was also a key stepping stone.

“Our planning and commitment to do the infrastructure for the initial office park in 1996 was, for a small community, a real leap of faith, but it has paid off big,” says Colleen Briscoe, who was New Albany mayor in 1996 and continues to serve as a City Council member today.

Fast forward and New Albany’s forward-thinking approach to planning and public-private partnerships remain key differentiators.

“The thing that really sets us apart is our focus on business attraction and retention,” says Mayor Sloan Spalding. “We understand that we need to move at the speed of business and that speed to market is critical for our partners.”

New Albany’s commitment to ongoing relationships with businesses long after the deals are closed has also resulted in strong business retention and expansion efforts. Discover Financial Services, Aetna, Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Bob Evans, Axium Plastics and AEP are New Albany businesses that continue to grow their presence and invest in the quality of life of our community.

“We are actually working with the same people that we met eight years ago,” says Lori Miller, CEO of ExhibitPro and chair of the New Albany Chamber of Commerce. “You make a big decision to invest in the park and build a building, and it is very exciting that they are still a part of it.”

What does this mean for our residents and schools? Today, income taxes, much of which are derived from our business park, account for more than 80 percent of New Albany’s $17 million annual general fund budget to support city services, including police protection, road maintenance, leisure trails, snow plowing and leaf collection.

More businesses with more employees means more income tax revenue for the schools as well; and rezoning for commercial use increased property values resulting in more tax revenue for our schools. To date, the 4,500-acre park has generated more than $70 million in total property and income tax revenue for our schools – 10 times more total tax revenues than if the business park had not been built.

Because of the business park, “we are able to diversify our tax base and we can still deliver high quality municipal services without increasing the tax burden for residents,” added Spalding.

Scott McAfee is chief communications and marketing officer for the City of New Albany. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.