Within the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, there are numerous resources available to assist in your housing plans, relocation issues, entertainment, business structures and more. Choose from the following links or call us if you have any questions or need additional information of any kind.
Tax phase-in (tax abatement) is available for revitalization areas in Starke County. For information about eligibility and the tax phase-in process, refer to the Tax Abatement & Criteria document.
Once tax-phase-in is granted, there are local annual reporting documents that must be filed.
Each community in Starke County has jurisdiction over its own zoning and building permit regulations, so depending on the proposed location, you will need to contact the office in each community that handles this. Those offices would be as follows:
City of KnoxA copy of the Knox Zoning Ordinance can be found here.
Starke County has also adopted a Building Code Ordinance modeled after the State of Indiana Code.
The Starke County Economic Development Foundation, through its Executive Director assists in working with and directing your company to the appropriate regulatory agency. The Starke County Economic Development Foundation will quickly and efficiently work with you through Starke County and its Municipalities regulations.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation has established the Office of the Ombudsman to assist in the process of obtaining permits and approvals necessary for a business operation. The ombudsman serves as the liaison between your company, the Starke County Economic Development Foundation, and Indiana Regulatory Agencies.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management also publishes helpful materials on a variety of subjects that may affect your business, including the Small Business Guide to Environmental, Safety and Health Regulations.
Starke County has experienced steady, moderate growth in each census taken since 1950 except for a small decrease in the 2010 Census as depicted in Chart 1 above. Chart 2 above shows a comparison based on 2010 Census figures of the different age groups found both in Starke County and the 7-County Region that adjoins Starke County, which would include the Indiana Counties of Fulton, Jasper, LaPorte, Marshall, Porter, Pulaski, and St. Joseph.
Additional and more detailed demographic information for Starke County can be found at:
The cost of doing business in Starke County and Indiana is extremely attractive to companies. The chart below compares the Cost of Doing Business in Indiana with eight surrounding Midwestern states by looking at total state business taxes in each state.
All the utilities serving Starke County have representative members on the governing board of the Starke County Economic Development Foundation. This ensures cooperation and direct access to each utility's decision makers regarding new service and any issue that may develop with existing services. There are two major electric service providers serving the industrial areas of Starke County: Northern Indiana Public Service Company (“NIPSCO”) and Kankakee Valley REMC (“KV REMC”). Contact information for each of those utilities is listed below and includes the name of a contact person to facilitate your company's needs.
CenturyLink has installed nearly 100 miles of fiber optics cable throughout Starke County with many available pairs for use by third parties. CenturyLink can provide a complete portfolio of voice and data services including Ethernet, MPLS VPN, and dedicated internet access and more from this network.
CenturyLink - Joan A. LudwigCenturyLink T-1 capacity lines are available throughout all of Starke County.
CenturyLink - Joan A. LudwigCenturyLink DSL is available to 80% of Starke County with speeds ranging between 5.0 MB and 10 MB.
CenturyLink - Joan A. LudwigNorthern Indiana Technologies (NITLINE) Wi-Fi is available in most of Starke County. Internet download speeds can exceed 5 Mbps with 3-5 Mbps throughput as normal.
Northern Indiana TechnologiesCenturyLink
For internet and existing customers who are residents of Starke County:
http://www.centurylinkdeals.com/high-speed-internet.html
Directpackages.com
http://www.directpackages.com/directv-with-internet.html
1-877-798-6070
HughesNet
For satellite internet and telephone:
http://www.hughesnetinternet.net/local/Indiana/
1-855-663-0185
Exede Satellite Internet
http://www.exede.com
1-855-894-5665
InternetProviders
http://www.internetproviders.com/broadband
1-877-221-1427
HughesNet
http://hughesnetplans.com/hughesnet-plans.html
In addition to the above, high speed internet providers may include Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T as well as local CATV provider Mediacom. Service may also be provided by satellite internet providers DISH Network and DIRECTV.